They had help from Faris, a Fresno police dog, but months later, Nick's mother and her friends found out an injury put the dog into forced retirement.
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"She found out that Faris the dog that took down Nick's killer had to retire and the K9 unit needed a new dog," said Bailey Feeney, junior at San Joaquin Memorial High School.
A Fresno police canine officer told Action News they had one dog die unexpectedly and two others suffer career-ending injuries, including Faris.
It happened all at once and they didn't have the budget to replace all the dogs.
In stepped Bailey Feeney, a 16-year-old San Joaquin Memorial junior whose older brother was a friend of Nick's. She decided to raise the money -- $13,000 -- to replace Faris.
"I'm hanging up fliers at school and sending a flyer home with every student and then we're going to offer a free dress day if you pay $5 to donate to the cause, you get a free dress day," she said.
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Casual day at school will help, but so will the posters she's putting up at businesses across town and her door-to-door soliciting.
Bailey gets a little emotional thinking about the purpose behind her act of altruism.
"I just want to do something in memory of Nick and I think that's a really good way to remember him," she said.
You can find information about contributing on her Instagram page "Kindness Nurture" or on the "Nurtured in Kindness" Facebook page -- both using Nick's initials and his memory to promote humanity.