In the summer of 2016, a promising young life was tragically cut short in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Ajeanae Frazer, a 20-year-old female, was fatally wounded on a Saturday afternoon, not as a result of a direct conflict, but through a devastating and unforeseen accident that unfolded within the confines of a moving vehicle. The incident, which took place shortly before 4 p.m.
on June 11th, was set in motion by a dispute earlier in the day involving Frazer’s boyfriend.
The chain of events that led to Frazer’s death began when her 25-year-old boyfriend, Michael Hasten, became embroiled in an altercation. Following this conflict, Hasten provided an assault rifle to a 16-year-old acquaintance. Later that day, Frazer was a passenger in a vehicle with this same teenager. As they traveled, the 16-year-old was handling the assault rifle when it accidentally discharged. A single round struck Frazer in the torso, inflicting a mortal wound. The suddenness of the gunshot and the grave injury to Frazer caused the driver to lose control, and the vehicle subsequently crashed on Wayne Avenue.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting and the crash, an attempt was made to conceal the circumstances of the incident. Hasten's 50-year-old father, Mark Warner, tried to hide the assault rifle, the weapon responsible for Frazer’s death. However, law enforcement officials were able to piece together the sequence of events, leading to the arrest of three individuals connected to the fatal shooting. The 16-year-old who fired the weapon was taken into custody and booked into juvenile detention on charges of negligent homicide and illegal possession of a firearm.
Michael Hasten, who had initially provided the firearm to the teenager, was arrested and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and being a felon in possession of a firearm. His father, Mark Warner, was also arrested and faced charges of obstruction of justice and contributing to the delinquency of a minor for his role in attempting to hide the weapon and hinder the investigation. The tragic and avoidable death of Ajeanae Frazer serves as a somber reminder of the devastating consequences that can arise from the mishandling of firearms and the series of poor decisions that placed a weapon in the hands of a minor.
