Fourteen-year-old Xavier Quinn was a promising athlete and an incoming freshman at St. Francis DeSales High School in Columbus, Ohio. A Black male, Xavier had just joined the school’s football team, where his older brother Quintell was also a player. Xavier chose jersey number 29 to be one number away from his brother’s 28. His coach, Ryan Wiggins, remembered him as an “exceptional” player who was “quiet, confident and always wore a big smile.”
On Friday, July 26, 2019,
Xavier finished the last day of a summer preparatory program at his new school and then attended football practice, which ended around 2:00 p.m. Hours later, shortly after 8:00 p.m., he was at his family’s home at 898 Weldon Avenue in the North Linden neighborhood. While there, Xavier was with his 15-year-old cousin, Don Jarvontia Braggs-Rash. According to investigators, Braggs-Rash was playing with a gun when it accidentally discharged, striking Xavier in the chest.
After the shooting, Braggs-Rash ran from the home. Witnesses saw him flee to another nearby residence, where Columbus police officers later arrested him. He told investigators that the shooting was an accident and led them to an outdoor trash can where he had hidden the gun. Detectives noted that preliminary interviews did not reveal any disputes between the two cousins, who were described as good friends.
Braggs-Rash was charged with murder as a juvenile. During a detention hearing on July 29, 2019, a magistrate granted his release from a juvenile detention facility. He was placed in the custody of his grandmother under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor. The case proceeded through the juvenile court system, and in August 2020, Don Jarvontia Braggs-Rash was sentenced to 18 months in a Department of Youth Services prison.
