Quinton Langford, known for always having a smile on his face, had plenty of reasons to be happy all the time.
The Plant City native, 20, was studying construction engineering at Florida A&M University, hoping to one day work with his father. He was well-liked by his peers and professors and was on his way to becoming the first college graduate in his immediate family.
“He was going to do great things, no doubt,” his father, Allen Langford, said.
Mr. Langford didn’t get the chance to do those great things his father spoke of. On Saturday, Oct. 22, Mr. Langford, standing in a crowd, was shot following a party on FAMU’s homecoming weekend. He was given treatment at the scene but died from his injuries.
Although Mr. Langford’s life ended abruptly, his family will carry on his memory for a long time.
Life wasn’t particularly kind to Mr. Langford at an early age. He had to deal with the deaths of his mother and his favorite uncle, but he didn’t let their deaths bring him down.
“Death was around him when he was young, but he carried it well,” Allen Langford said.
Growing up in a family comprised mostly of women, Mr. Langford and Allen Langford, along with cousin Justin Johnson, bonded over Miami Hurricanes football and competing against each other in virtually anything that came to mind.
“That’s between all three of us,” Allen Langford said. “We love to compete. Doesn’t matter what it is. It could be some of the dumbest things, and we’ll compete in them.”
The men would see who could throw a football through a tire without missing. They would hit rocks or golf balls with a baseball bat and measure to see who could hit the furthest. They would throw oranges across a field to see who had the strongest arm. No matter what it was, Mr. Langford was always up for the challenge.
“Probably the most competitive kid I know, for sure,” Johnson said.
Mr. Langford enjoyed working with wood and building things. He often traveled with friends and liked to fish.
“He didn’t eat them,” Allen Langford said. “I don’t even think he really liked to touch them. He just liked to catch them, reel them in, talk crap about it and then throw them back.”
Mr. Langford was also competitive in the classroom at Plant City High School and earned a full academic scholarship to Florida A&M University — which allowed him to both get a degree at one of the state’s top engineering schools and wear the Miami Hurricanes’ green and orange.
“He wanted to be the boss,” Rena Hadsall, Allen Langford’s girlfriend, said. “He wanted to be in construction and do something big with that.”
Mr. Langford started at FAMU as a mechanical engineering student, but one summer spent working in construction with his father changed his mind. He then switched his major to study construction engineering, having found a new passion.
“He never let anything stop him from doing what he wanted to do, and his thing to do was to go and get an education so that he could take care of himself,” Evelyn Johnson Milton, Mr. Langford’s great-grandmother, said.
Mr. Langford’s death, one of two that happened during the school’s homecoming weekend, shook the FAMU community. A surveillance video showing the events leading up to his death has been circulated around social media in hopes of bringing justice to the case. Friends and family still write on his Facebook wall, wishing for him to come back to life.
But his friends and family aren’t the only ones doing what they can to keep his memory alive: the school announced Wednesday, Oct. 26, its Division of Engineering Technology has plans to start a memorial scholarship in his name.
Future FAMU students may carry on Mr. Langford’s pursuit of education, and his family will carry on with lessons learned from simply being around him.
“His patience, his kindness, his trust in people was way more than mine … he just found good in everybody, no matter what the situation was,” Allen Langford said.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.