Sprinter Tyson Gay laments 'senseless killing' of daughter

American sprinter Tyson Gay described the fatal shooting of his 15-year-old daughter as a "senseless killing" during a candlelit vigil.

Friends and family gathered at a service in Kentucky on Tuesday in memory of the Olympic athlete's daughter Trinity.

Trinity Gay was shot dead in a car park outside a restaurant on Sunday following reports of an exchange of gunfire between two vehicles.

Three men have since been charged in connection with her death.

During a candlelit vigil at his daughter's school, Gay, 34, encouraged the community to come together to prevent further "senseless killings".

"We just have to stick together as a community as a whole", Gay told the crowd.

"It doesn't stop here, it doesn't stop with the balloons.

"I appreciate all the support but I need you guys to keep going. I don't want to read in the paper next week of another senseless killing.

"It has to stop".

Gay said his daughter would have wanted others to "protect each other, no matter what."

He added: "She was a happy girl all the time".

An accomplished sprinter herself, pairs of running shoes were hung from a fence in Trinity Gay's memory.