Funeral held in Rock Hill for slain postal worker

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Family and friends gathered in Rock Hill for the funeral of a postal worker shot and killed. Tyson Barnette moved to Maryland after graduating from Northwestern High School in his hometown of Rock Hill.

"He was a very sweet, respectable young man," Barnette's great aunt Mary Roseboro said. "He's the type of guy that anyone could love."

On Sunday, those who loved him gathered at Foundation AME Zion Church to celebrate Barnette's life. His family members told Eyewitness News they're leaning on each other right now to get through this difficult time.

"Right before Thanksgiving, it's really hard to celebrate something like that with a close one being killed," Barnette's cousin Terri Knox said.

Barnette was murdered Nov. 23. He was shot multiple times while delivering the mail on his regular route through a suburb of Washington, D.C., according to authorities.

"It was a very shocking thing to hear," Roseboro said.

Postal workers showed up in their uniforms at the funeral upset that one of their own lost his life because of senseless violence. Barnette's killer is still on the loose. Postal officials are offering a $100,000 reward and police are offering an additional $25,000 to anyone who has information leading to an arrest.

"I hope whoever done it will come forward because it's sad," Knox said.

Instead of flowers, the family is asking for donations in Barnette's memory to be sent to CRAVE, an after-school program at the Emmett Scott Recreation Center, P.O. Box 12372, Rock Hill, S.C., 29731.

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