MESA, Ariz. — When Jeremiah Aviles took his last breath, the legacy of his life was born.
And a day after he was supposed to walk and receive his high school diploma, his family created a foundation to memorialize the 18-year-old’s short-lived but impactful life.
“There was no better way to honor him than to walk out the plans he had for his future,” said Jeremiah’s mother, Olga Lopez.
Jeremiah was a senior at Red Mountain High School in Mesa, where he was a part of the football team. On May 7, he was murdered by a teammate during a sleepover at the suspect’s home.
The 18-year-old’s mother said Jeremiah planned to become a business owner like his older brother and had been accepted to ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business, where he was starting in the fall.
Lopez said her son also wanted to give back to the community, so she and her older son Jamie Diaz, created The Jeremiah Aviles Foundation and the Juice #24 online store.
Their goal is to help future high school graduating athletes by awarding two yearly college scholarships financed by the sale of merchandise from the store.
“This not only carries on his legacy but is giving me the will to get up every morning and to continue to help people the way he does,” Olga said.
The Jeremiah Aviles Foundation and Juice #24 store
Jeremiah was set to attend Mesa’s Red Mountain High School commencement ceremony on May 25.
On the day of the celebration, the teen's mother, older brother, and the brother’s wife attended the ceremony in his absence. They had asked the school district to let them have a proxy to receive the diploma in Jeremiah’s honor, but they were denied, Lopez said.
Jeremiah’s name was only read during the ceremony after the family made a request. Lopez said she was initially told the school couldn't do that because it wasn't a "practice of theirs" and that "consideration was given and never in the history in Mesa Schools [had] a student's name been called without them being present."
When Lopez asked for a policy that stated the request couldn't be made, "they couldn't provide one and stated it wasn't policy and it was a practice. [They] attempted to pacify my request for a proxy by stating that his name could be called."
The mother said the school didn’t provide them tickets to sit with the families of the senior’s class during the graduation event either. Lopez said one of Jeremiah’s teachers gave them the passes after learning of the situation.
“After voicing my concerns with the school board about how they mishandled graduation, we expedited how we moved my baby boy's own future plans forward,” Lopez said. “The day after graduation, my baby boy became a business owner and philanthropist.”
On May 26, Lopez and Diaz launched the Juice #24 online store that will carry Jeremiah’s “stylish apparel,” something they say he was known for. All proceeds from merchandise sold will go to The Jeremiah Aviles Foundation, where high school seniors who demonstrate character, are student-athletes, and have a financial burden will be selected to receive a scholarship.
The store’s unique name is a blend of a nickname Jeremiah’s friend had for him, and the number of his favorite football player, Marshawn Lynch.
“We’ve launched this in the midst of a fight for policy change with the Mesa School Board for how they mishandled my son’s graduation,” Lopez said. “We believe that Jeremiah’s legacy is also to change policy on this.”
While Jeremiah’s family could only attend the class of 2023 graduating ceremony and root for his fellow classmates, California friends of the young teen honored him at their events.
Some wore shirts with Jeremiah’s face on them under their gowns and others had customized pins attached to their stoles at St. Paul High School, Schurr High School, Whittier High School, and La Salle High School.
“I am beyond grateful to these boys that they recognized what adults that oversee a district couldn’t see,” Lopez said.
A grieving mother helping another
The word tough doesn’t fully describe what losing Jeremiah has been for Olga Lopez.
She said some days are better than others, but everything in her home reminds her of her “baby boy.”
His loss has gained her “several new sons,” she said. Jeremiah’s closest friends now call her “mom,” and continuously check in on her.
Her grieving process also led her to connect with Brenda Gilliam-Miller, the mother of 23-year-old Destiny McClain.
“She has literally lifted my chin and picked me off the ground,” Lopez said about Destiny’s mother.
Destiny was killed by a stray bullet on July 18, 2021. She was outside a food truck near 18th Street and McDowell Road.
No arrests have been made in Destiny’s case, but her mother said detectives have assured her the case has not gone cold.
“When it does, that’s when we’ll worry,” Gilliam-Miller said. “In the meantime, we will honor Destiny. I follow her footsteps now and the blueprint she laid out.”
To help her grieve and memorialize her daughter, Gilliam-Miller created the Our Destiny Our Future Foundation to provide scholarships for people who embody compassion, selflessness, and community service like Destiny.
Through grassroots efforts and fundraising events, she has funded five $1,000 scholarships. Winners will be announced on July 30th.
The Our Destiny Our Future Foundation is not just blessing future students but also helping connect grieving mothers.
Gilliam-Miller said she is now connected with eight mothers who have lost children. She also helped the mother of Trevor Scott Kenyon Deuel, who passed away from rare cancer, create the TD Creations 27 foundation.
“I was trying to find other ways that we could find more positive and productive ways to memorialize and honor our children,” Gilliam-Miller said.
Olga Lopez credits Destiny’s mother for helping set up the Foundation. The Juice #24 store had a successful launch and immediately sold out of the J24 Commemorative t-shirt.
“I think [Destiny and Jeremiah] are extremely proud of what we’re doing,” Gilliam-Miller said. “You can always find a way to turn your pain into purpose and that’s what I want to help other mothers to do.”
That is something Lopez hopes to carry on as well.
“It took a parent that is going through this to reach out to me, so it’s only right that we continue to move that forward and reach out to others,” Jeremiah’s mother said.
The Jeremiah Aviles Foundation hopes to award two scholarships a year starting May 2024.
12News contacted the Mesa School District about the policy regarding students who pass away but did not get a response.
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