Taylor Swift fans raise thousands for grieving family of young man killed after gig

Fans of Taylor Swift have raised more than £100,000 for the family of a young man who was killed on his way home from one of the pop star’s concerts.

Jacob Lewis was killed by a suspected drunk-driver after a fatal hit-and-run incident on Friday, April 21.

The 20-year-old and his sister, April Bancroft, 26, were driving back from Swift’s show at Houston’s NGR Stadium when they ran into car trouble. Jacob had stepped out of the car and started to push the vehicle from behind when suspect Alan Hayes, 34, allegedly drove into him. Jacob died at the scene.

Hayes allegedly drove off in a black Volkswagen Beetle and was later seen running on foot from the highway before being apprehended by officers. He’s currently on a $90,000 (£71,573) bond and has been charged with failure to stop and render aid and driving while intoxicated.

Now, Swift fans have raised more than $137,000 (£108,950) for Jacob’s family on a GoFundMe page.

At the time of writing $137,977 (£109,727) has been donated to “honour the memory of [Jacob] by raising money for flowers and funeral costs”. A number of people have donated $13 (£10) to the fundraising campaign in honour of Swift’s favourite number.

April, who suffered minor injuries and called emergency services following the crash, paid tribute to her brother in an interview with Rolling Stone. “He was just the best brother that you could ever have. He was so sweet from the day he was born and he was the best way to be upgraded to a big sister when I was younger. We just bonded so much as siblings together throughout the years.”

Karyn Lewis, Jacob’s mother, said: “I only have Jacob and April. They’re my babies. From a very young age, he always was attached to stories and characters. As a little boy, he would dress up, not just donning capes, but all sorts of characters. He eventually found his way to the stage. It’s where he learned to be such a great leader and friend. His talent ballooned. He lit up the stage. And his voice…”

Jacob’s father Steve Lewis wrote on Facebook alongside a link to the GoFundMe started by friends. “His last act was to push his sister to safety on a dark street. There is no way to describe the magnitude of this loss and the emptiness left in our hearts.”

April and Karyn said that listening to Swift has been a shared family joy. Steve introduced the family to Swift’s 2006 self-titled album, declaring she was the next big thing.

In 2015 during Swift’s ‘1989‘ tour, April and Karyn won tickets to see one of the shows.

While they were there, Swift’s mother, Andrea Swift, saw the mother-daughter pair and brought them from their seats to the front row. “We were within five feet from Taylor Swift for the whole concert,” Bancroft told Rolling Stone. “It was the most surreal experience ever.”

April added to ABC 13 that she wants to remember the last moments with her brother singing along to Swift songs rather than the horrific incident. She said: “Knowing we had that experience as our last memory is something wonderful to hold on to, and I will forever.”

Meanwhile, Swift had paid tribute to The National by playing ‘coney island’, on which they guested, for the first time on the latest stop of her ‘Eras’ tour.

The post Taylor Swift fans raise thousands for grieving family of young man killed after gig appeared first on NME.