FRISCO, Texas — Multiple sources have confirmed that Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott will pay for the funeral expenses of Jaylon McKenzie, an eighth-grade football player who was shot and killed while leaving a party near St. Louis last weekend.

According to Illinois State Police, McKenzie, 14, was struck by a stray bullet while attending a party in Venice and died shortly after at an area hospital. A 15-year-old girl whose name was not released was also hit and remains in critical condition, according to a statement from the Illinois State Police.

McKenzie’s mother, Sukeena Gunner, of Belleville, Illinois, said her son attended the party with friends after an eighth-grade dance and was told that he was trying to leave when a fight broke out. She said the party was supervised by the homeowner, who called the police and stopped the party as soon as the fight broke out.

“Jaylon did everything right. If he did anything wrong, I didn’t know about it,” Gunner told the Belleville News-Democrat. “He got up every morning, went to school, did his work. He never rode with anyone else; I’d take him to school, or sometimes my husband, and we’d pick him up. Then the next day, we’d do it all over again.”

— Fort Worth Star-Telegram