Haggai Sekesa

Haggai Kiwa Sekesa was an 18-year-old from Auburn, Washington, remembered by people who knew him for a warm, humble, and lighthearted presence. Schoolmates and community members recalled him by nicknames such as “Ace” and “Laggai,” and his time as a middle‑school track and field athlete — running the 75- and 110‑meter hurdles at Cascade Middle School — is one of the public, human details that remain. Photographs and peer tributes describe him as having distinctive, frizzy hair styled in an undercut and as someone who could lift the mood of friends with a joke or a kind word.

Though the public record about Haggai’s life is limited to a few community remembrances and reporting after his death, those sources convey a portrait of a young person who mattered to classmates and neighbors. Memorial pages and student reporting collected messages that speak to how much he was cared for — messages that call him loving, funny, and thoughtful, and that mark the loss felt by those who called him friend or brother.

Haggai’s death on February 10, 2019, is part of the public record; community memorials and reporting note that he was discovered in Auburn that day and that his passing was investigated by local authorities. While the circumstances of his death are covered in news reports, the focus here is on Haggai’s life as remembered by people who knew him: a young athlete at school, a presence in his neighborhood, and someone whose friends continue to light virtual candles and leave tributes in his memory. The public details available do not provide a full life story, but the consistent notes of affection speak to the human connections he left behind. He is remembered by friends and classmates who continue to honor him, and whose messages emphasize his kindness and the everyday ways he mattered to others.