Birthday party for slain Oceanside teen a bittersweet celebration

Life for Keyanna Morris has been up and down since her 16-year-old brother, Khaseen, was stabbed to death last month in an Oceanside strip mall parking lot.

But every time she gets down, Morris said Thursday, she feels the uplifting and energetic presence of her younger brother — a skilled artist and independent spirit in life — and she is able to go on.

“I still feel like he’s around," Morris said. "I feel like this is why it doesn’t feel so real to us because it’s like every time we get down, you hear him saying, ‘stop it.’ ”

Thursday night, Morris, family members and others who knew and loved Khaseen, gathered at his favorite restaurant, Ciao Baby in Massapequa Park, to celebrate what would have been his 17th birthday.

They wore purple T-shirts with Khaseen’s picture on it. On the back of the T-shirts was an expression ending with his nickname: “Groovy 4 Kha." Balloons in a shade of purple — Khaseen's favorite color — bounced above the tables and booths.

They planned to dine on baked ziti and chicken Parmesan. There was no better way to honor their brother and celebrate his birthday than settling down with steaming plates of his favorite food, his older sisters said.

“If he was still here with us — this is the restaurant we would come to,” Keyanna Morris said. “It was hard to get up today but we made sure we have to come, and we have to celebrate and we have to do everything that we would have done even if he wasn’t there.”

The celebration of Khaseen's life took place just over five weeks after his death.

Khaseen, who had recently started his senior year at Oceanside High School, was fatally stabbed on the afternoon of Sept. 16, just blocks away, in the parking lot of a Brower Avenue strip mall.  Days later, Tyler Flach, 18, of Lido Beach, was charged with second-degree murder. He also faces charges of first-degree gang assault, misdemeanor assault and weapons charges. Prosecutors said Flach plunged a knife into Khaseen's chest during a fight sparked by a dispute over a girl.

Flach has maintained his innocence and is scheduled to return to court Oct. 31.

Seven other defendants, all from Long Beach and ranging in age from 16 to 18,  face either second-degree gang assault or gang assault charges, authorities said.

The three tight-knit Morris siblings, Keyanna, 30, Kedeemah, 22, and Khaleem, 19, live with their parents in Oceanside. They said thoughts of Khaseen's violent, untimely end and the huge void in their lives ever since, can make every day, every hour a grueling, emotional struggle.

His mom and dad are taking it “second by second,” Keyanna Morris said. Both parents were at the party Thursday but declined comment.

Kedeemah Morris, said she woke up Thursday in tears. The tears flowed again, off and on, at Khaseem's birthday party when she described his death as something like a nightmare.

“The four of us have never been separated,” she said. “It’s not a dream that you can just wake up from.”

Kameel Gayle, 50 of Freeport, a maternal aunt of Khaseen, made his birthday cake and brought it to the restaurant.

“I baked his favorite cake," Gayle said, "and that’s the last thing I gave him a week before he got killed — red velvet cake.”

Gayle described herself as Khaseen's “second mom” and said she thinks about him every day.

Khaseen, recalled by his family as a gentle soul, aspired to study photography, drew anime and wrote his own songs. His beloved skateboard was always close by.

The birthday party was bittersweet. Even as they honored Khaseen's birthday, they were reminded that it's just one of countless milestones in life he'll never see. 

“A week before he got killed, I was talking to his mom about prom, graduation,” Gayle said. Instead, she'll be attending court hearings for those charged in connection with Khaseen’s killing.

“I hope justice is served,” she said. “I hope they get the maximum penalty allowed by law because he didn’t deserve to go like this, not like this.”