Teen Behind Laser Cat Yearbook Photo Dead In Apparent Suicide

Draven Rodriguez, who shot to internet fame last fall for a humorous high school yearbook photo with his cat, died Thursday from an apparent suicide at the age of 17, his parents told the Times-Union.

Rodriguez made headlines after officials at Schenectady High School determined that the photo he took of himself with his cat, Mr. Bigglesworth, in front of a backdrop of pink and blue lasers, wasn't suitable for the formal section for senior portraits. Rodriguez then made a deal with the school's principal, Diane Wilkinson, to publish the photo on her page, as long as she was included in it, along with her pet chihuahua and a message supporting animal rescue.

Rodriguez told WRGB at the time that the photo was "mostly for fun", adding, "I'm very humorous. I try to be very witty and I thought it would almost be a good statement, like, 'Yeah, only Draven would really do that.'"

"He made friends wherever he went," said his father, Jonathan Stewart. "He had an empathy for the world and for other people that I think is rare in kids his age ... It was wonderful to see."