Benton City residents are mourning the death of young man whose life was cut short. Stephen Pheasant died on January 26th, and police have not yet identified why.

Friends say he spent the night at a friend's house on a Friday and was found dead the next morning. The loss has taken everyone by surprise.

"Two friends Nick and Tim came in and told me, I couldn't believe it," said Kotey Johnson, Stephen's best friend.

Stephen was just 15-years-old and a sophomore at Ki-Be High School. His friends say he was into motocross and always tried to make everyone laugh.

"He would just know how to make people laugh, he was a funny person," said Tayaire Penor, one of Stephen's classmates.

"He was a good boy, he really came around and helped out a lot, he was eager to help," said Vaughn Jensen, a family friend.

"He was exuberant and was just full of energy all the time, just never down," said Johnson.

Friends and family all came together at the vigil on Wednesday night, to share some of their best memories. Ones they will always remember.

"My best memory of Stephen was when him and my cousin Kyler, we all went over to my house and he totally beat me at guitar hero," said Penor.

"He was such a good boy with so much ahead of him, and we're going to miss him very much," said Jensen.

"Me and Stephen used to play sports together, we played basketball and baseball, we fought like crazy and we were really competitive with each other, but no matter what we kept getting over it and being friends until the end," said Johnson.

The cause of Stephen's death is still under investigation. There will be a fundraiser for his family on Friday, February 1st at 4:00p.m. at the Tumbleweeds restaurant in Benton City.