KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Editor's Note: Violent crime is not routine, and it is not just a statistic. Behind every victim is a family and a community, and WBIR wants to make sure the people who fall victim to it are not forgotten. More than a Number is a series meant to share their stories and highlight their humanity.
In 2018, The Knoxville Police Department reported 21 homicides. One of those homicides was of 20-year-old Isiah Lorenz Jones. According to authorities, Isiah was shot and killed in an East Knoxville neighborhood.
Just weeks before he was killed, Isiah had just celebrated his birthday and learned he was going to be a dad.
"He found out he was going to be a dad two weeks before he was murdered," Keonna Garner said. Garner is Jones's older sister. "I was like big sister, big mom."
Garner said Jones was a natural star on the football field. He was often called 'Boobie Miles' because he had speed just like Miles did.
"Some of us called him 'Zay Hype' because he used to be really hyper as a kid," said Garner.
Jones was born in Oak Ridge. He attended Rockwood High School as well as Oak Ridge High School. He's the middle child of six and a family favorite.
"So he's number four, but always number one in our heart," his sister said.
Jones was not only a son or a brother -- but an uncle. He became 'Uncle Zay' to Garner's daughter.
"I think Uncle Zay was the kid's favorite, he would get down to their level," Garner said.
His role as an uncle was preparing him for the greatest title of them all - dad. His daughter Ki'Siah Royalty was born around six months after her dad was murdered. Ki'Siah became a sense of hope in the darkest days.
"Because the older she gets, she wants to know, "Where's my daddy, why did my daddy have to go away?'" Garner said.
It's been six years since Garner last saw her brother and questions about the dad Zay would've been never fade.
"She would have been a daddy girl, a daddy's girl, for sure," she said.
As birthdays, holidays and first days of school continue -- Ki'Siah is a sense of time capsule for this family
"Because he left us something so beautiful to cherish," his sister said.
The family said five-year-old Ki'Siah is her daddy's twin. She's also a little reminder from heaven of who her dad was.
"It's actually his name with a K in front of it, Isaiah," said Garner. "From her smile to her attitude, she is her daddy's child."
Isiah was born on the Fourth of July. Every year on that date, his family celebrates his life by eating his favorite food, telling stories about him and remembering who he was.
The family refers to this date as "Jones Day."