PONTIAC, Mich. – The father and brother of one of the students murdered in the Oxford High School shooting addressed the shooter Friday amid his sentencing hearing.
Buck Myre, father of the late 17-year-old Tate Myre, was one of the first people to take the stand on Friday, Dec. 8 to share a victim impact statement during the hearing. He shared his experience from when he learned his son had been killed, and went on to share how difficult the loss has been for him and his family.
The father told the court that he was working from home on Nov. 30, 2021, and heard sirens while on a conference call, but didn’t think anything of it. After he realized the sirens were only growing louder, his wife called and told him what was going on at the high school.
Buck Myre said he and his wife walked around the Meijer store, which served as a safe reunion point for families, in search of their son. The parents were eventually called into a room and delivered the news that their son was murdered.
“The thing that stands out to me was what my wife said. She put her head in her hands and said, “Not my baby boy,’” Buck Myre said.
The parents then had to inform their other sons about what happened. Buck said his family has been navigating their way “through complete hell” for the past two years.
“As we are working our way through this process, it’s been quite a journey. I can tell you that ... love is obviously absent from our family, because there’s no joy. When you have joy, it’s easy to love. Me and my wife are trying to figure out how to save our marriage and save our family, and we didn’t even do anything to each other,” Buck Myre said.
The father went on to address the shooter directly, telling the now-17-year-old that he succeeded in sowing misery, but said it won’t last forever.
“We wear the pain like a heavy coat. Constant reminders every day. Every hour is the darkest time of the day,” Buck Myre said.
“I understand from journal entries, that this was [the] desired outcome. For us to feel the pain that you had,” the father said, addressing the shooter in the room. “I will tell you this, we are miserable. We miss Tate. Our family has a permanent hole in it that can never be fixed, ever.
“To this day, you are winning. But today is a day where the tides change. Today, we are going to take ours back. We’re all cried out. We’re all tired out. We need to take this chip off our shoulder. We’ve been on this island far too long. We are the prisoners, not you. Nobody else can set us free but us.
“In life, sometimes what you need is exactly what you fear. We fear forgiveness for your selfish acts. So, today, [however] hard it is, we need to find a way to start working our way to forgiveness. Forgiveness to you, forgiveness to your parents, forgiveness to the school. What other options do we have? Be miserable for the rest of our lives, and rob our family of normalcy?
“Believe me, we will never forget about you, ever. We want you to spend the rest of your life rotting in your cell. What you stole from us is not replaceable. But what we won’t let you steal from us is a life of normalcy, and we’ll find a way to get there through forgiveness and through putting good in this world.”
The father then talked about the peer-to-peer mentoring program the family started in honor of their son.
“He was an amazing kid. He loved to give. He loved to serve,” Buck said of his son Tate. “He went to the same elementary school as you, you knew him,” he told the shooter.
“There’s good that’s going to come from this. And the good is: Kids are going to have a buddy, they’re gonna have somebody to lean on, a peer they can trust, and love, and build a relationship with. Trust, love, build. Tate left a roadmap for us, all of us. He left that roadmap from the people he learned from. Mom and Dad. Trent and Ty. His teachers. His coaches. His neighbors. So if we could all make the effort, and if we take the time, maybe we can leave this much behind.”
In response, Oakland County Judge Kwame Rowe said he has read “a litany of victim impact statements, and your son had an extremely positive impact on this community.”
You can watch Buck Myre read his entire statement in the video player up above.
Trent Myre, Tate Myre’s oldest brother, took the stand just after his father. The brother offered a more brief statement, sharing how painful the loss of his brother and their future together has been.
Trent said the death of his brother has affected every decision and thought over the past two years.
“I can never escape the thoughts, the loss, the grief, the what-ifs,” Trent Myre said. “What would life be like right now? Where would Tate be going to school? What memories would we have made together? Now, I just have to wonder, what would it have been like?
“My future kids can’t meet their uncle. My parents can’t watch one of their sons grow up. I won’t get to have Tate as a groomsmen. ... These are the thoughts that I have every single day.”
The brother did not address the shooter directly, but did address the judge to ask for the harshest possible sentence.
“I am asking that the shooter gets the maximum penalty. This coward took actions knowing the consequences and effects it would have on people and this community. He did the selfish [act] of taking four lives away. He took four kids’ opportunities to grow into incredible men and women, and he should never have the opportunity to see the light.
You can watch Trent’s statement in the video below.
Tate Myre was one of four students shot and killed at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021. The shooter has been convicted of 24 charges, including first-degree murder and terrorism, and faced a possible sentence of life in prison without parole.