Friends Remember Andrew Messina

Music-loving, guitar-playing, honest and a modern-day hippie. Those were phrases used to describe 16-year-old Andrew Messina at his funeral Monday afternoon.

“Andrew gave joy to everyone who knew him,” said Clay McDonnell, a classmate from High Meadows School in Roswell. “Andrew was a friend to many, and I believe now his pain is all gone.”

McDonnell said he was upset and confused by after being shot by a sniper during after an hour-long standoff at his Eagle Watch home in Towne Lake. Sheriff's deputies were called after Messina's mother said he and was pointing it at himself and his mother.

Messina will be remembered for who he was, not how his life ended, McDonnell said.

“He was peaceful, kind and most of all, full of love,” McDonnell said.

Austin, a student at , said Messina was empathetic.

“He could always feel for what was going on in your life,” he said.

Another Etowah High student, Emily, said Messina was one of the best influences in her life.

“He showed me how peaceful life could be,” she said.

Messina’s goal in life, she said, was to change the world and make it more peaceful.

“To me, Andy is the kind of person who will never be replaced or forgotten,” she said.

Yasin, of Marietta, said that Messina was one of his closest friends.

“He quickly became that close friend because of who he was,” Nelson said. “I trusted him with anything and everything. I’m probably not going to get over this.”

Friends and family members filled most of the sanctuary at to say good bye to Messina. Before the service started, many gathered in front of his casket, weeping softly and hugging each other.

Noah, an Etowah High student, met Messina at and said he was one of the kindest people he had ever met.

“Andrew was always a friend, no matter what,” Noah said. “There was nothing that could turn Andrew away.”

Steve Brooks, Hillside UMC’s senior high youth pastor, said Messina had attended Thursday night meetings off and on.

“I would light up when I saw him come through the door,” Brooks said.

The last meeting Messina attended was the Thursday before his death.

“It’s like, 'wow, o-kay God, he was here last Thursday, and you knew what was going to happen on Tuesday',” Brooks said.

Last fall, Messina attended a church retreat and really made others in attendance think, the pastor said.

“Andrew was real,” he said. “He didn’t beat around the bush. He was real, and his questions helped people in his group not to just blindly follow.”

No one can understand what Messina’s parents, Nicholas and Lisa, are going through, Brooks said.

“I can’t fathom the pain and hurt and looking at the next years of life,” he said. “I can’t fathom that. But God? He totally understands. God had his son die a tragic death. If anyone understands, it’s God.”

And Messina’s death also is a tragedy, Brooks said.

“This is a 16-year-old man,” he said. “This shouldn’t happen. How do you make sense of this?”