MONTREAL - Days after the tragic deaths of three young men who were hit by a Via Rail train in the Turcot yards, friends of one of the deceased are gathering at John Abbott College.
Ricardo Conesa and Mitch Bracken (17) both went to the Ste. Anne de Bellevue college, and were friends with Dylan Ford, also 17, who was a former student of Lindsay Place High School in Pointe Claire.
All three died early Sunday morning when they were hit by a train coming from Toronto.
Two other young men in the group survived because they were not on tracks.
In the world of graffitists, Mitch was known as ‘Aber.' He and Ricardo graduated from MacDonald High School in Ste. Anne de Bellevue last spring, and before leaving, Mitch convinced his principal to allow him to paint a tag on a school wall commemorating their year.
Mitch's yearbook stated, "My high school years will be remembered by my old crew, graffiti, skateboarding."
Ricardo arrived in Grade 10 from Spain, but friends at the CEGEP who were creating a book of messages and thoughts for the young men said he made a major impact upon his arrival.
Dylan was known by his tag 'Jays' which he spraypainted in many places in Montreal.
Dylan's mother, Jamie Mcallan told CTV: "He was a good kid. He had a lot of friends," but also said she had tried to convince him to give up graffiti.
"I never liked it. I hated it and he knew that. I figured it was just a kid thing and he's grow out of it. I was constantly trying to talk to him about it and get him out of it."
His half-sister Eden Bradshaw is devastated.
"He was a good kid. He was going to school, he was going to work. He was living his life as any 17-year-old or any 18-year-old would do," said Bradshaw.
Video tributes to Dylan are being uploaded to YouTube (see video below) and his friends, like Vanessa Moquin and A.K. Grey, are coming forward so people can know Dylan for more than just his paint.
Moquin is still coming to terms with Dylan's death.
"It's still fresh and not kicking-in yet. You know that he's not coming back, you know he's gone," she said.
Grey says Dylan was a giving soul.
"He's going to care about someone else before he cares about himself, you know," said Grey. "He's always that outgoing kind of kid, like every 17-year-old is."
For Lianna Tavares, Dylan was a key part of the kitchen team at Dunn's restaurant.
He impressed her in the past five months, and has aspirations to be promoted to a chef from his post as dishwasher.
"Dylan's awesome to work with. When he's at work, he does his work. He's a good kid," said Tavares.