Braylan La-Ron Erik Foster, 19, a Black male, died on August 1, 2025, after being shot multiple times in the chest inside Klipz Barber Shop on the 2500 block of Mahoning Road NE in Canton, Ohio. First responders rushed him to Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. An obituary later confirmed his identity, age, and date of death.
Within days, investigators identified 25-year-old Deontae K.V. McCollum as the suspected shooter.
According to police and court reports, McCollum left the scene, then spoke with officers by phone and surrendered without incident near 19th Street and Market Avenue North. He was booked into the Stark County Jail on murder and felonious assault charges and held on a $1 million bond. Local coverage described him as working as a barber, and initial reporting noted his claim of self-defense. The case was bound over from municipal court for a grand jury review.
On September 18, 2025, a Stark County grand jury declined to indict McCollum, and the murder and felonious-assault charges tied to Foster’s killing were dropped. The development ended the criminal case against the identified suspect, after several weeks in which the shooting and McCollum’s self-defense claim had been under investigation and court scrutiny.
