HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — On Sunday, family and friends held a celebration of life for Pastor Robert Booth Sr. who was shot and killed outside his High Point home. People from all over the Piedmont Triad came together to pay tribute to Booth.
The emotional three-hour celebration included prayer, singing, dancing and rapping. Booth's friends told FOX8 he used every gift God gave him to the fullest until the very end.
"Robert was music," said Dwayne Waden Jr., the assistant pastor of Hood Holiness Church of God and friend of Booth. "Any instrument you put in that man’s hands he could play it."
The 25-year-old was a father of a two-year-old. He shared his faith in unique ways singing and playing gospel music at United House of Grace and Mercy Church in High Point.
“It was his escape," Waden said. "It was his way of speaking. It was his way of worship. It was his way of everything."
Booth's passion led him to start Hood Holiness Church of God. It was an effort to bring peace and end violence in the streets.
“He cared so much about the people here that he wanted to just minister to anybody," Waden said. "It didn’t matter what the situation was."
Booth was supposed to lead his first church service on Sunday, but the choice to share the word of God on Ardale Drive Tuesday night cost him his life. Booth's loved ones told FOX8 he was shot and killed while he shared the gospel with two male suspects at the East Gate Village Condominiums in High Point.
“It’s not the way," Waden said. "Killing each other is not the way and he sacrificed his life to continue that ministry."
“He took God to the streets," said Lovelle McMichael, the senior pastor of United House of Grace and Mercy Church. "When God changed him, Robert wanted to make sure somebody else was changed too."
Booth's life was about to change. He became an ordained minister and proposed to his girlfriend days before he was shot. Now she is helping to plan a funeral instead of a wedding.
Booth will be laid to rest Thursday. The money raised at Sunday's service will go towards his funeral expenses.
High Point Police have not been able to identify the suspects in Booth's case. Investigators are searching for information on a 2008-2010 burgundy Nissan Rogue seen around the East Gate Village Condominiums Tuesday night. If you have any information, you’re asked to contact HPPD or Crime Stoppers.
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