Students Plan Fundraiser, Memorial For Slain Whitney Young Classmate

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Students are planning a fund-raiser and memorial service for a classmate who was fatally stabbed over the weekend.

Brandon Porter-Young was a handsome, quiet 18-year-old senior who loved playing basketball and gardening.

Tuesday evening, students will be holding a fundraiser during the school's basketball game to help pay for Porter-Young's funeral, CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports.

Friends simply cannot understand why anybody would want to harm him

Principal Joyce Dorsey Kenner recalled that the autistic student "always had a smile on his face."

Porter-Young's autism limited his verbal skills, and he had a hard time communicating with people he didn't know, according to Corryne Irvin, a special education teacher at Whitney Young.

Since early December, Porter-Young had been living with his mother at the Jr Plaza Hotel II, 3001 W. Jackson Blvd., said Annie Harris, a hotel employee.

About 10 p.m. Friday, Porter-Young was found at the hotel with multiple stab wounds to his upper body, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:25 p.m.

No one is in custody for the murder.

A memorial service is scheduled on Feb. 20 at Whitney Young.