Breon Lee Burton, 28, a Black/African American male known to loved ones as “Nite Nite,” died on Thursday, November 24, 2011, in Chester, Pennsylvania. Online memorial and obituary records say he was born in New Castle, Delaware, received early education in the Chester and Wilmington school systems, graduated from William Penn High School in New Castle, and had been baptized at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.
His death came on Thanksgiving Day, turning what should have been a family holiday into the day his relatives would later remember as the moment he was “taken” from them.
The reported circumstances of Burton’s death place him in the middle of a particularly violent stretch in Chester. A Delaware County Daily Times article preserved online reported that Chester was dealing with another deadly month and that Burton became one of several homicide victims in the city during November 2011. According to that report, police said Burton was shot in the 200 block of Hayes Street after midnight. The Delaware County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the manner of death a homicide and said the cause was multiple gunshot wounds.
The killing unfolded against a backdrop of fear and frustration in Chester. The same report described residents speaking at a city council meeting about the crime wave and its impact on the community, asking for better police protection and safer, better-lit streets. City officials said Pennsylvania State Police had increased their presence in Chester after officials voiced concerns about officer safety and the challenge of serving arrest warrants, including warrants related to violence and drug cases. Burton’s death was listed among a series of shootings and stabbings that had increased in frequency that month.
The online sources located do not identify a suspect in Burton’s homicide, and they do not report any arrest specifically connected to his killing. No publicly available source found in this search described charges, a trial, a conviction, or sentencing for anyone accused of murdering him. Based on the available online information, Burton’s death appears to remain a homicide for which no named suspect, conviction, or punishment has been publicly documented in the sources reviewed.
In the years after his death, family memorial notices continued to mark his absence. One remembrance described him as a son, grandson, nephew, cousin, brother, friend, and father, and recalled that he died on Thanksgiving Day. Those memorial words shifted the story from the police blotter back to the family table, where the holiday no longer felt the same without him.
