Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton’s fiancée, Jade Jones, broke her silence after late friend Makenzi Kern died during her bachelorette party trip earlier this month.
“Kenzi was the funniest, goofiest person I’ve ever met,” Jones, 28, wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, June 17. “She was always making me belly laugh. She had such a gift of bringing happiness to every room she was in. Some of my favorite memories with Kenzi are the simple ones — spending a summer living in her city, leaving our mark on the capital district, running around our cars at stop lights, cheering on the bandshell together, obsessing over The Office, dancing on countertops to Hannah Montana, and watching her light up anytime she got to be on a boat.”
Jones continued, “She truly found happiness in all the little things in life.”
Kern died due to unexpected “health complications” on June 8 while in St. Barts with Jones and a large group of friends. She was 26. No cause of death has been released publicly.
Jones and Kern met as cheerleaders at Iowa State University, where Haliburton, 26, was also a star basketball player.
“She loved and supported Tyrese and me through every chapter,” Jones said. “She was our biggest cheerleader and showed up for me in every big moment in my life. I can’t even imagine our wedding day without her there celebrating with us. The day will not be the same without her, but I know she will show us she is there somehow. She has been there for all of our moments since the day I met Tyrese. But Kenz will forever live on in my memories, my laughter, my stories, and in the person I am because of her. I will never stop laughing about all our memories together.”
Jones called Kern “a light in this world, and that light will continue to shine in everyone who was lucky enough to know her.”
“I love you forever until the end of time Kenzi,” she continued. “You are truly so beautiful inside and out & a once-in-a-lifetime kind of friend. Thank you for always showing up for me, for making me laugh until I cry, and for being such an unforgettable part of my life. I’ll always miss you but I know you’ll be with me, wherever I go.”
Haliburton commented on the post, “I love you.”
According to TMZ, Kern’s family does not expect foul play, drugs or alcohol to have played a role in her death.
Kern’s obituary painted a nostalgic picture of her final days in St. Barts.
“She loved the water,” the obituary reads. “She talked her mom into going to the pool to go swimming in the middle of a rainstorm during their trip to Disneyworld. She was a mama’s girl those early years and could talk her into just about anything. She loved boating with her dad, water skiing, and got to try out a Seabob for the first time in St Barths. According to her friends, they had to drag her off because she loved it so much, evidence that she was having an amazing time.”
