SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It's been nearly six months since Sacramento native, Tyre Nichols, was beaten to death in Memphis following a traffic stop. Sunday, his hometown celebrated his life by renaming his favorite skate park after him.
"It's amazing. It's beautiful. It's overwhelming. It's so many things, but it's all love. And I'm so happy," said Keyana Dixon, Tyre's older sister.
The Tyre Nichols Skate Park became official Sunday and Dixon said she can finally smile after working with the city of Sacramento to rename the Natomas skate park.
"We can celebrate him, and we can make sure that everything that is attached to his name is something that he would be proud of," she said.
Even with the renaming and updates to the park, Dixon said it was important to keep one feature the same.
"We cannot touch that ramp. We just can't touch it. That was his favorite ramp, and I have so many pictures of him on that ramp," she said.
With his name printed on the ground and green trim, his favorite color, all of this was a partnership with his family, city officials, Vans and The Skate Park Project. The entire project took five months.
The ribbon cutting was also an opportunity for the community to contribute to the Tyre Nichols Foundation. Photos taken by Tyre Nichols were put up for auction, with all the money going toward the foundation to fund multiple scholarships and grants for young people in Sacramento.
"We're gonna have a creative art scholarship for high schoolers who are going to be going off to college," said Dixon.
While she misses her little brother, Dixon believes he would be proud of the work done to his favorite spot.
"He was super chill so he would say, man, this is super cool," said Dixon.
The Tyre Nichols Foundation is currently taking online donations and plans on awarding these scholarships and grants during the next school year.
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