A U.S. Army officer who graduated from Millersville University in 2008 has been killed in Afghanistan.

First Lt. Demetrius Frison, 26, a Philadelphia native who moved to Lancaster County to attend MU, died while serving in Operation Enduring Freedom, military officials announced Wednesday.

A family friend said Frison was killed in action.

The military did not announce when, where or how Frison was killed.

Frison is survived by his wife of two years, Mikki, and their 6-month-old son, Christopher Kenneth.

Friends described Frison as a young man with a promising future.

Leslie Danielson of Columbus, Ga., said Frison had "so much love for what he did, and so much love for his family."

"When I think of him, I think, 'This is an outstanding man,' " said Danielson, whose own husband, Joseph, is a first lieutenant serving in Afghanistan.

Danielson said she and her husband met the Frisons a year ago and "just completely hit it off."

Frison graduated from Millersville in 2008 with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and a minor in sociology. His wife graduated the same year, also with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology.

He enrolled at MU in the fall of 2003 and served as a resident assistant in 2005 and 2006, college officials said.

Frison married his longtime girlfriend, Mikki A. Fuller, on March 28, 2009, in their hometown of Philadelphia. Their son was born Nov. 17, 2010.

The couple met in middle school, Mikki Frison said Wednesday. They attended different high schools but decided to attend the same university.

"He was very determined," Mikki Frison said.

Danielson described Frison as "fun-loving and outgoing … he'd never give up."

He also was a man "who loved God with all of his heart," Danielson said. "I have no doubt he's now going to heaven."

Frison had been able to see his son before he was deployed to Afghanistan at the beginning of the year, friends said.

He had served in the Army since April 2009, and had worked his way up through the ranks over the last two years. He was last based at Fort Knox, Ky.

At the time Frison applied for a marriage license in 2009, he was living at 662 Wyncroft Lane in Lancaster Township, according to newspaper records.

He was the son of Paul Hill and Louella Frison.

He worked at the Lancaster Youth Intervention Center as a youth care worker and with the Community Services Group of Lancaster as a mental health adviser.

He was one of three students to be awarded a scholarship at the 2004 "Freedom Fund Banquet" at Millersville, sponsored by the Lancaster chapter of the NAACP.

doconnor@lnpnews.com