A South Dakota man is facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of a 19-year-old from northern Colorado. Officers in Tea, South Dakota, a city just outside of Sioux Falls, responded to a shooting on June 3.
Family members identified the victim as Isaiah Lee Morales. Morales had moved to South Dakota from northern Colorado about six months ago to be closer to his parents.
"People always gravitated to Isaiah. I mean everybody says that about their loved ones when they pass that they were incredible but truly for Isaiah he was an incredible young man," his mother Sarah Morales said.
[He was the] life of the party, a light, he truly was a light," his sister Hannah Esquibel added.
In early June, in a small town in eastern South Dakota, officials said Morales was shot and killed by a man named Timothy Overton. Overton was taken into custody earlier this month and is facing a first-degree murder charge.
Isaiah Morales had moved to South Dakota from Colorado four months before his death to be closer to family.
Court documents don't state what let up to the shooting but Morales' mother said he was trying to protect her and his sister.
"I live with guilt every day. But I know he would do it all over again because that's who he was," Sarah Morales cried. "That’s just who he is as a person. He was a protector."
Isaiah Morales was a man who loved his family and his faith, according to his family. His mother and sister said he connected with so many people because of that. They said they received more than 100 notes from strangers after his death.
"And they were things like Isaiah helped me out of my suicidal thoughts, Isaiah helped me through my drug addiction," Sarah Morales said.
"We can really see how many people he truly impacted," Esquibel added.
His family said his impact remains. They decided as a family to forgive the suspect in his shooting because they believe that is what Morales would want.
They hope their loss will be a reminder to all.
"Just to love deeply because you just never know," Sarah Morales stressed. "I know people say that, 'you just never know if you have tomorrow' but really we’re living that right now."
Friends have created a GoFundMe to help cover the expenses that come with the unexpected loss.
Overton is scheduled to appear in court in South Dakota on Wednesday. In addition to that first-degree murder charge, he's facing multiple charges of aggravated assault and one charge of interference with emergency communication; that means Overton allegedly stopped someone from calling for help.