A Texas-based nonprofit fighting youth gun violence will help sponsor an annual scholarship at the American Ballet Studio in Bayport in honor of Emily Finn, the 18-year-old Sayville college freshman allegedly shot and killed Wednesday by her 17-year-old ex-boyfriend at his Nesconset home.
"The Foundation will help financially sponsor one promising girl's continued dance education, establishing a legacy that mirrors Emily's own passion and potential," the Youth Peace & Justice Foundation, founded in the wake of the 2022 Uvalde, Texas, mass school shooting, wrote in a statement.
The nonprofit will also plant a memorial tree in the Finger Lakes National Forest in Finn's honor. Its Youth Gun Violence Memorial Initiative, which began in September, plants a tree in a national forest in memory of young people who have lost their lives to gun violence.
A memorial service for Finn is set for Monday at 10:30 a.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church in Sayville. Her family asked those attending to wear "a splash of pink," her favorite color. Donations will be accepted in Finn's name to The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, according to the Raynor & D'Andrea Funeral Home in West Sayville.
Finn started as a freshman at SUNY Oneonta in August. She had gone to her ex-boyfriend's home Wednesday to return some of his belongings when he allegedly fatally shot her and then turned the gun on himself but survived, the police said. He has remained hospitalized since Wednesday and not yet been arraigned on a second-degree murder charge, according to the Suffolk police. The police have not released his name because he was a minor at the time of the shooting.
A fundraiser to support Finn's family had raised $85,000 as of Sunday.
A skilled ballerina who studied at the American Ballet Studio, Finn took classes there four days a week, taught younger classes, served as the president of fundraising for the ballet studio and danced as the lead in "The Nutcracker" performances, the studio's artistic director told Newsday on Saturday.
Finn was "a promise of brilliance, a passionate dancer whose grace on the stage represented the beautiful potential of youth, a potential cut short by a bullet," Daniel Chapin, founder of the Youth Peace and Justice Foundation, wrote in a statement.
"We are planting 'seeds of hope' where violence has taken root, turning our vow into tangible action that actively supports the dreams of young dancers, starting with her beloved American Ballet Studio," Chapin wrote.