### **Shaped By Homelessness and Tragedy**
NFL quarterbacks can't possibly throw more at Starks than life already has.
When Starks was just 7 years old, his 9-year-old cousin and best friend, Keion Gresham, was killed as part of a domestic murder-suicide. It was 14 years ago, but Starks remembers as if it happened five minutes ago. He and Gresham spent the previous day playing together and had plans to visit a local arcade on the morning he was murdered.
"The day before felt like a movie, the perfect day," Starks said. "The people who I'm closest to were all at the house and we were running around playing. The next day, my parents had to work, so they dropped me and my sister off at my great grandma's. I just remember the phone rang, and my great grandma was screaming."
[Starks has worn No. 24 ever since to honor Gresham](https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/malaki-starks-jersey-number-24-revealed), who wore that jersey number in youth football. It's a way for Starks to stay close to the cousin he will never forget.
In many ways, the day Gresham died ended childhood for Starks. He learned life can be violent, fleeting and unfair. But what could have made him bitter also made him stronger.
"I had to grow up a lot faster than I planned," Starks said. "Faster than most kids have to. I realized at an early age the things I wanted in life, and the things I didn't want. I've tried to stick to that plan of being the best version of myself."