AMITE - Jarvis Brister was killed in a double shooting in the town of Amite. The family of Brister says the 17-year-old was a good kid who was only weeks away from graduating with a full-ride scholarship.  

"He wasn't in reflection of what happened. He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time," Schynell Thomas, the mother of Jarvis, said. 

"From my understanding, he was out here playing basketball. A fight broke out, and his friend got shot across the street," she said.

"He was trying to run to save his friend, and that's when he got hit back to the head," said.

Brister was going to graduate from St. Helena this Friday.

"I just wish you could've been here. You know, Friday, to walk across that stage. That's what he was looking forward to doing: walking across the stage," she said.

He also played football in high school.

"Jarvis was a fun, loving kid. He played video games. He loves riding dirt bikes, and he was into sports. He had a whole four-year scholarship to Virginia University at Lynchburg."

Where he was killed, friends and family members placed candles and flowers at the spot. 

"You've got to understand that he was gonna graduate Friday, and now I have to try to bury him Saturday," his stepfather, Vondale Thomas Sr., said

"He was full of energy, just life taken too soon with a senseless act of violence, you know," he said.

Police arrested four people in connection with his murder -- 18-year-old Nastajaa Williams, 18-year-old Paris Brumfield, 19-year-old Gwendolyn Alexander, and 17-year-old Pharell Town.

Brister's stepfather says he wishes this had been handled differently.

"This is something that a conversation between parents could've been avoided, cause I'm pretty sure the parents of whoever did this to me my wife, and we could've really sat down and had a discussion, and we could've just nipped this in the bud," he said.

Both Brister's mom and stepfather plan to advocate to fight against this uptick in youth violence.