Event to honor life of Gaston County child

A swim event Oct. 6 will honor the life of a boy who was killed by his father last October and raise money for organizations that aided the boy's mother and sister after his death.

Cyrus' death

Cyrus Blakney, 11, was shot and killed by his father, 48-year-old Russell Blakney, Oct. 21, 2023, while at their home on Brentwood Lane.

Russell Blakney also set the house on fire and fatally shot himself. Cyrus' twin, Piper, was pulled from the burning home. She survived the fire.

Why swimming?

Racheal Blakney, Cyrus and Piper's mother, has organized a swim event, the Ripple Effect Relay Festival, at the Gardner Acres Swim Club in Gastonia. The event will run from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 6. Blakney is holding a swim relay because Cyrus was an avid swimmer and a member of the Gaston Gators swim team.

"It's going to be groups of 4, a relay event, where we just do different fun types of relays," Blakney said. "I've never helped coordinate anything like this before, but it's kind of along the lines of, like a walk or run for awareness."

Blakney also intends to raise awareness of domestic violence.

"At the event, I'm going to have some posters that just have, you know, some information about domestic violence, what it is, what it looks like, some statistics, different resources for being able to find help, what you should do, kind of in response to being that person that maybe a victim has come to you with what's going on with them, and just kind of ways that you could be able to help them," Blakney said.

Cyrus' death was the 61st death in North Carolina from domestic violence in 2023, according to the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Russell Blakney had a history of domestic violence, and Racheal Blakney had filed for a domestic violence protective order in the hours before Cyrus was killed.

The proceeds

Registration costs $40 per team of four. The proceeds from the event will go to Blakney's church, Catawba Heights Baptist Church in Belmont, the American Red Cross, and The Lighthouse, a children's advocacy center in Gastonia.

"I really wanted to design something to just give back to the community, because I do really feel like the community of Gaston County came together, like the church, you know, the advocacy center, the Red Cross, our swim team. Belk even helped out, like providing us with different things for our home and clothing and things like that." she said. "So there were just a lot of people that, despite the tragedy, were able to just pull together and help us, and it's my prayer that we're able to give back even just a little bit in his honor and memory."

The future

Eventually, Blakney hopes that the event will become so big that she could fund a scholarship in Cyrus' name.

"You know, swimming is a very expensive sport, so I just think it would be really wonderful to be able to continue to honor him by having a scholarship that's in his name through the Gators," she said.

To register for the event, click here or scan the QR code.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Event to honor life of Gaston County child