Karen remembered her late friend in an emotional statement to PEOPLE. "I will always remember Matt as the radiant, compassionate 17-year-old I met so many years ago. His genuine heart and boundless energy lifted everyone around him.

They don’t make them like us. I wish I could have saved you,” the “RHONJ” star wrote on social media while memorializing her friend.

Stars of the ‘Real Housewives’ franchise remember Byars as ‘a sweet soul’ with ‘genuine heart and boundless energy’ who was ‘loved by so many.’