Friends and family gathered Friday to pay respects to a young man from Barrie, Ont. who was killed while on vacation in the Dominican Republic.

A funeral service was held at the Hi-Way Pentecostal Church in Barrie for Jordan Morrison, who was remembered for standing up for what he believed in, even if it meant risking his life. A poem Morrison wrote in Grade 9 was read out at the service.

The 19-year-old was beaten to death after he stepped in to defend a Guelph, Ont. woman who’d been spat on at a bar at a Punta Cana resort, where Morrison was vacationing with his family.

The incident happened earlier this month outside the bar at the Grand Paradise Bavaro resort. Two men from Montreal, Dmyitro Aref Yev and Bouzid Redha, are being held in Punta Cana and could face murder charges.

The suspects’ lawyers claim the pair was drunk and didn’t intend to kill Morrison.