Friends & family remember woman found unconscious on Watertownâs Riverwalk
Rayne Stokes vigil By Lexi Bruening | January 29, 2021 at 6:35 AM EST - Updated January 29 at 7:06 AM
WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWNY) - It was a night honoring and remembering a young woman who died last week after she was found unconscious in downtown Watertown.
âShe was very selfless. Kind. Caring. She put everyone above her own.â
Thatâs how Rayne Stokes is remembered by the people who are closest to her.
On Thursday night hundreds gathered to remember the 19-year-old.
Rayne was found unconscious on the Veterans Memorial Riverwalk in Watertown early Friday morning. She was taken to Samaritan Medical Center and passed away shortly after.
WATERTOWN â Deidra Stokes walked with her father into the room where her 19-year-old sisterâs body was laying. She could still see her sister the way she always was â the light of their family, a future veterinarian technician and the person who touched so many lives with her empathy and kindness.
The only difference was what they saw to be bruises and wounds covering Rayne Stokesâ upper body.
âAt a minimum, she was assaulted,â said Donald Stokes, Rayneâs father, a 6-foot, 3-inch Army veteran. âFrom a teenager to an adult, I have beaten grown men that didnât look as bad as my daughter.â