Memorial Set for Regency Square Homicide Vicitm Sean Buchanan

Family and friends will gather July 30 at a church in Lithia to celebrate the life of Sean Michael Buchanan, whose death in May at the Regency Square shopping center has been ruled a homicide.

“It’s going to be a tense day but it’s also going to be a special day to celebrate Sean’s life with his family and friends,” said Buchanan’s mother, Mary Jane Buchanan, about the memorial celebration for Sean’s life, 1 p.m. July 30 at the FishHawk Fellowship Church in Lithia.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Buchanan, 26, was found “conscious, but incoherent and confused” in his Toyota Corolla, in an embankment behind the Regency Square shopping center, on May 30, at around 10:39 p.m.

He had just seen a movie at the AMC Regency 20.

Sheriff’s office spokesman Larry McKinnon said Buchanan and unable to give any information about what had happened to him. He was transported to Tampa General Hospital, where he died in surgery, leaving behind an infant daughter.

“He was paying child support, he had no criminal history that we were aware of and he had multiple jobs,” McKinnon said at the time. “It’s kind of difficult to back-track on what his activity was other than he lived an honest, good and clean life. It’s very important that we get some ideas of what’s going on.”

 Today, though, at the church in Lithia, Buchanan will be remembered more for how he lived – and the void he leaves behind.

“I still expect him to come to the door or give me a call,” Mary Jane Buchanan said. “It hasn’t really totally hit.”

What will be celebrated today is Buchanan’s time on stage, with YouTube video clips and others recounting their times watching him on stage.

“That was his element, he put it out there,” Mary Jane Buchanan said. “I was watching his videos last night on YouTube, his karaoke performances, and some of him dancing in his living room. He’d put the camera up and he’d practice.”

His love of the stage started in the fifth grade, his mother said, at a talent show for Mrs. Driggs, at Boyette Springs Elementary School.

 “That was the beginning,” Mary Jane Buchanan said. “Being the new kid in the eighth grade and getting out there and doing it. That’s where  he found his love of music.”

At the memorial, her niece, Linda Arnett, will sing, “Ava Maria.”

Buchanan’s sister, Kathie Corley, will play the Native American flute.

“Sean wrote incredible poetry and I have three poems of his that I’ll be reading,” Mary Jane Buchanan added. One is about his daughter. Another is entitled, “Keep That Smile, This Time Will Pass.” And the third, entitled, “If I,” includes the words:

“If I were to die tonight, I would be so free, I’d be in heaven, where I was meant to be.”

 And while Justin Strickland, Sean’s friends since age 14, won’t be able to be in attendance, his parents will speak on his behalf. Strickland’s convoy, about a week ago, was struck in Iraq, and Strickland is hospitalized with injuries.

“I’m glad he’s okay, he has burns, but just the fact, here again, you don’t know what can happen at any time,” Mary Jane Buchanan said. “Everybody here today also will be praying for his speedy recovery.”

The celebration is a time to remember a life well lived, but the hope for justice will never be far behind.

“I talked to the detectives yesterday,” Mary Jane Buchanan said. “They’re following their leads, they’re waiting for some evidence to come back, they’re persevering and I commend them. I know this is their job but they’ve been so caring and special to us. They’ve gone above and beyond.”