Victim of 2021 Sarasota hotel shooting greatly missed

Lina Portman2 days ago

0 6 minutes read

It's the 9th of the month, the day that marks heartbreaking pain for Amy Thompson. It's the day she lost her son in a shooting, and it's another month, another reminder: he was taken too soon.

Colton Wright, 24, was killed in a shooting in Sarasota on December 9, 2021. Thompson is desperately trying to keep herself together as she not only carries the burden of her grief, but also as she works to honor the memory of his son and make I'm sure he will be remembered long after he is gone. It's a task that has undoubtedly been accomplished, as evidenced by the thousands of local residents who have attended the Colton Wright Memorial Car Show over the past three summers, an event that raises funds for a scholarship. studied automotive at Danville Area Community College in Danville, Illinois. in honor of Colton Wright's love of cars.

It is important to Thompson to be able to distribute scholarships through the fund long after she is gone from this earth to keep Wright's memory alive. She has been able to raise $23,000 for the scholarship fund over the past three years through the car show.

“I just want to honor his memory because Colton would have given the shirt off his back for anybody,” Thompson said. “He was such a kind person. He loved everybody.”

Wright and his family were regular visitors to the Sunshine State. He always had the travel bug, was never afraid to try something new, and was looking for work during the COVID-19 shutdowns. With restaurants in Illinois mostly closed, he moved to Florida in July 2020 to work as a server.

Colton Wright Murder Case: Postponed: Third Stand Your Ground hearing in 2021 Sarasota hotel murder case canceled

The move was marked by a rocky start after Wright's arrest in Pinellas County in January 2021 for possession of methamphetamine and driving without a license. Thompson visited Wright several times while he was in Florida and tried to help him get his life back on track. She wanted him to come home, but Wright wasn't ready to leave.

Then he began dating Brennan Wakey in June 2021, nearly six months before Wakey shot Wright in a hotel room at the Hyatt Place Hotel at 950 University Parkway. The two men were arguing when Wakey claimed he fired a gun in self-defense to protect himself from Wright, who appeared to be under the influence and threw a bottle of margarita mix at him.

Wakey has been in a “Stand Your Ground” hearing since February. A third hearing was scheduled for June 21, but it was unexpectedly canceled less than 30 minutes into what was supposed to be a full-day hearing. Thompson drove more than 1,000 miles to have the hearing rescheduled. Wakey, 28, has been on probation since March 7, 2022, and as a condition of his release, he must wear an ankle monitor.

In case you missed it: Sarasota judge refuses to increase bail for man charged in fatal 2021 hotel shooting

After seeing delay after delay due to COVID setbacks and a “Stand Your Ground” hearing that stretched from February to June, the family’s frustration with the legal process is clear.

“I can't even express how horrible it was to be there [at the first hearing] and then I have to go back,” Thompson said. “I have to sit 50 feet in a courtroom from the person who killed my son.”

Although nearly three years have passed since Wright's death, Thompson continues to receive messages from strangers about how much he loved his son. More than 2,300 people follow the Colton John Wright Memorial Facebook page, which is full of friends, family, classmates and strangers who were touched by his kindness and goofy sense of humor .

One of Thompson's favorite memories of his son are the loving words he left for him. She was the kind of mother who saved everything, including words, that reminded her of Wright's thoughtfulness and deep love for her mother.

“I love you mom.”

“Have a nice day!”

He always made sure his mother felt special.

“He always took care of me as much as I did for him,” Thompson said. “He didn’t need to look out for me, but he had that attitude towards him. He had such a caring heart. He loved everyone and he suffered when someone else suffered.

Growing up, Wright was a huge animal lover and wanted to adopt every animal he saw, but he settled for four pets: three dogs and a cat. Peewee, the family chihuahua terrier that Wright convinced Thompson to adopt in 2008, died two months after Wright’s murder. While Peewee helped Thompson through the first two months of grieving and Thompson will surely miss her, she takes comfort in knowing that Wright and her favorite dog are now together. Several family members and friends have offered Thompson a new dog, but she’s not quite ready.

Cassandra Smith's husband makes a special trophy every year for the Colton Wright Memorial Car Show. The 2024 trophy is made with a vintage carburetor donated by a car collector and handcrafted with red flames.

Wright's aunt Smith vividly remembers the day he helped her pick out her own car. While some might think it's time to buy a new car, Smith can't part with her Chevy Equinox: It's a piece of her nephew she's not ready to part with yet.

Wright owes his love of cars to his father, who had always worked in the automobile industry. At the age of 10, Wright bought his first golf cart. As he grew older, he traded the golf cart for a four-wheeler and finally bought his own car at age 16 with money he had saved from mowing lawns, bussing tables, and detailing cars.

Even though she lives about a two-hour drive from Wright and his family, Smith has always had a special bond with him, viewing her nephew more as a son. She attributes this closeness to Wright to the fact that he shared many similarities with her mother — inside and out — with whom she was also very close growing up.

He had the best sense of humor and always made her laugh. They always took little trips together. One of her favorites was to Indiana Beach, a small amusement park in the area. They enjoyed junk food, went for walks, and had fun.

Every time a certain song, a birthday, our Christmas – Colton's favorite holiday – comes around, it brings a wave of sorrow and sadness for Smith.

“I know this can happen in any family, of course, but we just can't believe this happened to anyone in our family – let alone Colton,” Smith said. “It was so shocking, and still is, he’s not here.”

Chandler Randolph quickly hit it off with Wright, 19, while they were both working seven days a week at Giordano's in Champagne, Illinois, in 2016. They were together every day for four years and are become close. While the two friends had times where they disconnected, they reconnected just as quickly with Wright coming to Randolph's house and staying there for several days at a time. When Randolph moved to Florida in 2020, he followed suit.

At times, the friendship was fraught with tension and frustration. Wright was seeking sobriety and living with Randolph after an arrest in Pinellas County. She wanted to help him get his life back on track, but it was difficult for her as she tried to take care of herself and her own mental health while also helping a friend who was going through a tough time.

After living with Randolph for a month, Wright moved in with Wakey and began using drugs again, Randolph said. The two good friends soon stopped talking. Randolph continued to check on Wright and ask Wakey about his sobriety and general well-being.

Randolph is no stranger to the consequences of addiction and was hesitant to maintain a friendship with Wright as he continued down that path, but she still cared about him and wanted to see him get better.

In her grieving process, she's learned to compartmentalize the good times and the hard ones, and she chooses to remember Wright for the good — the times they went camping in Shelbyville and kept everyone awake because they laughed so hard; the way he called pterodactyl birds and their multi-day sleepovers. Every time she misses him, she puts that energy into giving love to Thompson. She will send him things for Mother's Day and Wright's birthday.

“That's how I've learned to deal with it,” Randolph said. “When I'm angry about him and what's been done to him, I just try to give that love to Amy because she's the one who's there and she's the one who's hurting the most.”

Lina Portman

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