The loved ones of Melbourne baseballer Chris Lane watched a tribute game in his honour today at the field where his sporting dreams began.
Mr Lane's family, his girlfriend Sarah Harper and members of the tight-knit baseball community attended the Essendon Baseball Club match in Melbourne's north.
Mr Lane played for the Essendon Baseball Club for 13 years before getting a US scholarship.
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He was the victim of a random drive-by shooting last week in Oklahoma and three teenagers have been arrested over his murder.
FUNDS RAISED
In Oklahoma the residents of Duncan, where Chris Lane was killed, held a vigil for the murdered Australian.
"The idea came about after visiting with people in the community on Monday and feeling an overwhelming burden that our community is hurting," Duncan First Baptist Church pastor Bryan Pain said.
An online memorial fund set up by one of Mr Lane's US baseball team-mates has raised a staggering $US154,000 ($A171,800) in just three days.
It was hoped the fund would raise $US15,000 to help pay for funeral expenses and take Mr Lane's body back to Melbourne.
But the outpouring of support from people around the world will allow Mr Lane's parents to set up a foundation to make donations to organisations Mr Lane was passionate about.
The fund is at:
MURDER CHARGES
James Edwards, 15 and Chancey Luna, 16, have been charged with the first-degree murder of Mr Lane. Michael Jones, 17, was charged with being an accessory to murder.
Mr Lane was jogging along a Duncan road last Friday when police allege Luna fired a .22 calibre revolver into Mr Lane's back in a random attack.
Some locals have blamed the murder on gangs which have infiltrated Duncan, a town that has had just one other murder in the past five years. But the chief said he had no knowledge of gang activity in the city.
