HEARTWARMING

UNC Shooting Victim Honored With ‘Star Wars’ Jedi Character

The character, Ri-Lee Howell, is a Jedi master and historian named after the University of North Carolina at Charlotte junior, according to the “The Rise of Skywalker” dictionary.

A “Star Wars” character has been named after Riley Howell, a junior at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte who saved lives in the April 30 school shooting. Howell, 21, was killed after Trystan Andrew Terrell, 22, opened fire in a classroom as students were finishing the last day of the spring semester. Terrell also killed 19-year-old Ellis Parlier and injured four others.

The character, Ri-Lee Howell, is a Jedi master and historian, according to the The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary. Howell's girlfriend, Lauren Westmoreland, said Monday that the character was the perfect tribute for the junior who authorities said took Terrell “off his feet” to allow officers to intervene.

“Riley is the biggest fan of Star Wars that I've ever known, ever since he was little!!!!!” Westmoreland posted on the video-sharing TikTok app. “Thank you for giving my love this best Christmas gift this year and making him part of the Star Wars universe forever.”