"When you first meet him, he is kind of shy," said his mother, Denise Quiday. "But if you get to know him, you can't get him to stop talking."

The 12-year-old from Waipahu carries himself with maturity, his mother said.

"He likes to act like he is cool," Quiday said. "He doesn't get all excited. He won't let you know how he is feeling."

Friends and teachers say her son is funny.

"I guess only his friends see that side of him," Quiday said, laughing herself. "When he is with adults, he won't show that."

Sheyne is an eighth-grader at Highlands Intermediate and a good student, his mother said.

Sheyne has an older sister and a younger brother. He's fond of music and loves MTV and televised football games.

He also likes to play football.

Mark Milton, his Pee Wee football coach last fall, called Sheyne "quietly intense." Sheyne was smaller than a lot of players but could hit as hard as anyone on the team, Milton said.

But that isn't what Milton liked best about Sheyne.