After his death, the family’s church, the Faith Temple Christian Center in Rockledge, asked if they could hold a COVID awareness event during his wake and funeral.

“Now we’re seeing things completely shift with this delta variant. [Marquis] was 28 years old, had the rest of his life in front of him, and because of COVID-19, specifically this delta variant, and he was not vaccinated, his life was cut short,” said Dr. R. Shaun Ferguson, the pastor of Faith Temple Christian Center. “Our position as a church is let’s get this cut. Let’s do this. I don’t want to see another person lose their life, period.”