Stefon M. Johnson, 22, Of Sickle Cell Anemia

    Word has reached The Star of the death of Stefon Marcel Johnson of Portsmouth, Va., a childhood resident of Bridgehampton, who died on March 1 at the Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn. Mr. Johnson, who was 22, was born with sickle cell anemia, an inherited disease caused by an abnormal protein inside red blood cells.

    Mr. Johnson was born on Aug. 9, 1990, in Riverhead, to Tonya L. Walden and Corey M. Johnson Sr. At the age of 8 he moved with his mother from Bridgehampton to Virginia, and in 2004 to Federalsburg, Md., to live with his father and stepmother. He attended Colonel Richardson High School in Maryland for two years before rejoining his mother in Portsmouth, where he attended Churchland High School.

    His stepmother, Penney Johnson, described him as a young man whose smile lit up the room. As a child, Mr. Johnson loved to play basketball and received several trophies and awards for his excellence in the sport. He also loved music, later writing his own lyrics, making his own beats, and freestyle-rapping.

    In addition to his mother and stepfather, Darryl Walden of Portsmouth, and his father and stepmother, who live in Hurlock, Md., he leaves four siblings, Kori, Tashay, Iyannah, and Corey Johnson. Four aunts and four uncles survive as well.

    A funeral service was held on March 11 at the First Baptist Church Camelot in Chesapeake, Va.