One of Travin Varise’s favorite activities was playing outside. Travin, just 2 years old, knew how to unlock the screen door and run out of his home in Baton Rouge, La. “You couldn’t keep him in the house,” Calvin Varise, his uncle and godfather, told msnbc.com. Travin had begun to speak, but wasn’t fully pronouncing words yet. He loved to watch Finding Nemo, and his two favorite characters were the clown-fish Nemo and his sidekick Dory.
Travin loved the roaring cheetah stuffed animal that his uncle had bought him. The energetic and charismatic child also enjoyed dancing along as Frankenstein to the novelty song “Monster Mash.” Family members gave Travin the nicknames “Little Man” and “Tre.” “I had plans for him,” his uncle said.
Travin was accidentally shot by his 18-year-old brother inside his Baton Rouge home on Jan. 21. He died the following day.
Michele Richinick