Community mourns 16-year-old’s passing

By Sarah Cavacini and Brandon D. Oliver

Family members, friends, school employees and church officials are seeking solace through unity as they mourn the passing of a Palatka Junior-Senior High School student who was struck by lightning earlier this week.

Baylee Holbrook, 16, died at 9:32 a.m. Thursday, according to a Facebook post by Trinity Baptist Church in Palatka. 

“Our entire community is completely devastated by Holbrook’s loss,” Putnam County School District Superintendent Rick Surrency said in a statement.

Holbrook’s friends and family gathered Wednesday morning and evening to pray for Holbrook’s recovery. 

“The outpouring of love at Wednesday night’s vigil showed just how much she meant to her friends and community members,” Surrency stated. 

Trinity Baptist had opened its doors at noon Thursday for anyone who wished to pray for and reflect on Holbrook and her family but soon moved it to the C.L. Overturf District Center after receiving an outpouring of support from people who wanted to honor Holbrook, according to a Facebook post from the church. 

Hundreds of people showed up to Thursday evening’s prayer vigil, which lasted nearly two hours. Palatka High Principal Cathy Oyster said numerous people spoke about the well-loved 11th grader who had a positive impact on many people, no matter their background or social group.

“She transcended every group of kids,” Oyster said before the vigil. “She was the most inclusive loving kid you could meet.”

The high school junior had been hunting with her father Tuesday evening when lightning struck a tree, which fell on the pair, according to a Putnam County Sheriff’s Office report.  

Holbrook and her father lost consciousness, but her father woke up and began CPR on his daughter, the report states. Emergency rescue officials took Holbrook to HCA Florida Putnam Hospital, where she was stabilized before being moved to UF Health in Gainesville, the sheriff's office stated.

Friends and family lined the Gainesville hospital’s hallways for Holbrook, said Trinity Baptist Pastor Willie B. McKinnon III, who is also the family’s spokesman. 

“As I got off of that elevator last night inside of (UF Health) in Gainesville and I look, and I see the hallways lined with people on their knees praying … I see the hundreds of people that are sitting there, man, it brings a tear to your eye because this community, when one of their own are hurt, they come out in full force to support them, to be there for them,” McKinnon said Wednesday.

Holbrook was a Palatka High varsity cheerleader who enjoyed hunting and boating and had begun pursuing photography, McKinnon said. He said Holbrook had been hunting a big buck when she and her father were injured. 

Oyster said her students were devastated when they learned of Holbrook’s passing. After hearing the news Thursday morning, students got together to pray for their classmate, Oyster said. 

Although Holbrook was a varsity cheerleader, Thursday night’s Palatka High junior varsity football game was canceled to allow students a chance to grieve. Oyster said Palatka High’s varsity would continue as planned Friday evening at Tocoi Creek High School in St. Augustine, a decision Palatka High football players and cheerleaders discussed Thursday morning. 

Holbrook’s interactions weren’t limited to school. She was also a huge part of Trinity Baptist’s youth group, McKinnon said. 

“She was the one on Wednesday nights, on Sunday mornings, testing her peers here at the school, her friends, her loved ones," McKinnon said. "‘Hey, hope to see you at church. Hope to see you there.’ Because she always wanted to see people better than who they were. And her main goal was to make sure they had every opportunity to accept Jesus Christ into their heart.”

On Thursday, Facebook posts showed just how much Holbrook was loved. People posted on her Facebook page about how much she will be missed and how many people’s lives she touched. 

“District and school counselors are currently meeting with students to help them process this tremendous loss,” Surrency stated. “The school district will continue to support Holbrook’s family and friends in the days to come.” 

Palatka High’s guidance counselors have been playing a vital role in helping Holbrook’s classmates, as well as the faculty and staff, cope with the sadness that has washed over the school since people learned about the lightning strike, Oyster said. 

She praised them, as well as the mental health counselors the school district sent to Palatka High. The youth resource deputies have also given students an emotional outlet, said Oyster, who is grateful for the sense of community these resources provide. 

Oyster stressed the need to continue mental health services at her school after many people, herself included, got emotional during Thursday’s vigil as people spoke about their interactions with Holbrook.

“We’ve been very blessed,” she said. “We’ve had guidance counselors on-hand … not only at the school, but at the hospital.”