Loved ones remember Nick Linke at vigil - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

TOLEDO --  Judy Wentzel never got the chance to meet  20-year-old Nick Linke, but feels like she's known him forever.  Two people dragged Linke onto her front lawn the night he was shot and she hasn't touched the spot, even after a memorial went up a day later.

"This is his resting place, this is where the angels came to get him," says Wentzel. "And he has a home there as long as people want to do things for him."

Dozens of loved ones came to that Ontario Street memorial Wednesday night to remember and honor Linke's short life.

"My son loved life, just as much as anybody did, or better maybe," says his mother, Vickie Linke.  "He was a good kid."

Friends believe Nick was shot near a corner store before he drove down Ontario and crashed his car.  Witnesses say two people pulled Nick out, but not in enough time.

"It makes me sad because so many kids in the neighborhood have been getting hurt for no apparent reason," says family friend Barbara Sienke.

Adults at Wednesday's vigil say there's a lesson in Nick's death for every parent.

"Teach your kids morals, let them grow healthy and happy," recommends Vickie. "And hopefully, less of this crime will be on the street."

The suspect, 23-year-old Tyler Watson, is in police custody in Monroe County.  He's expected to be extradited to Ohio.  Nick's funeral is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Urbanski Funeral Home on Lagrange Street.