American musician Christopher Cross was Laura Carter's friend at the time she was murdered. He wrote the song "Think of Laura" in her memory.

Laura Carter's father and step-mother were visiting their daughter who was attending Denison University outside of Columbus, Ohio. It was parents' weekend, April 17, 1982. Laura, an 18 year old freshman, was in the car with three of her friends after a lacrosse game, her parents were taking them all out to dinner to celebrate their win.

A block away two rival gangs started a shoot out over drugs. Laura, who was in the back seat, was leaning forward talking to her father when a stray bullet hit her in the chest. Though her father sped to the nearby hospital, she couldn't be saved. Edward Carter said of his only child, "She couldn't have been happier. We had two happy days together. She was a terrific girl, cheerful, optimistic." He set up the Laura Coffin Carter Fellowship after she died, putting in the money he would have paid for her college tuition because he thought it was important to have a living memorial to his daughter and that the recipients of the awards were experiencing what she would have if she had lived.

American musician and Grammy award winner Christopher Cross was dating Laura's best friend, Paige McNinch at the time and wrote the song "Think of Laura" in her memory to ask that she be remembered with happiness. The song appeared on his second album "Another Page" and though it enjoyed some success it did not become a hit until it was picked up by the ABC soap opera General Hospital, where it became known as the theme song of Genie Francis who played character Laura Spencer and her TV partner Luke who was played by Anthony Geary.

Incidentally, one of the four men indicted in the killing, Norman Whiteside, who was convicted as the mastermind behind Laura's murder, was a member of a band called Wee. His song, "You Can Fly On My Aeroplane" which was originally released in 1977, was recently sampled on Kanye West's single Bound 2.

The song was also re-released by Boyz II Men as "Think of Aaliyah". Aaliyah was an American singer, dancer and actress who died in a plane crash in 2001 in The Bahamas.

Think of Laura by Christopher Cross

Hey Laura, Laura
Hey Laura, Laura

Every once in a while I'd see her smile
And she'd turn my day around
A girl with those eyes stared through the lies
See what your heart was saying

Think of Laura but laugh, don't cry
I know she'd want it that way
And when you think of Laura, well, laugh don't cry
I know she'd want it that way

A friend of a friend, a friend to the end
That's the kind of girl she was
Taken away so young
Taken away without a warning

Think of Laura but laugh, don't cry
I know she'd want it that way
And when you think of Laura, well, laugh don't cry
I know she'd want it that way

I know you and you're here
In every day we live
I know her and she's here
I could feel her when I sing

Hey Laura, where are you now?
Are you far away from here?
I don't think so, I think you're here
Taking our tears away

Think of Laura but laugh, don't cry
I know she'd want it that way
And when you think of Laura, well, laugh don't cry
I know she'd want it that way
Well, I know she'd want it that way

Hey Laura, hey Laura
I know, she wants it that way
Hey Laura, hey Laura
I know you want it that way
Hey Laura

You can purchase Think of Laura by Christopher Cross on iTunes.

Photo of Christopher Cross from his website which you can visit here.