In the autumn of 2013, a vibrant 30-year-old man from Buffalo, New York, named Rashad Patton, found his life tragically cut short. On the afternoon of Saturday, October 5th, Patton was attending his sons' football game at Bakos Park. During halftime, he received a phone call summoning him to a meeting in a field off of Wyoming Avenue. His oldest son, Jamyier, then nine years old, had a premonition that something was wrong and pleaded with his father not to go.
This would be the last time his sons would see him alive.
Later that day, in what police described as an apparent drive-by shooting, Patton was repeatedly struck by gunfire in the upper body while on Cambridge Avenue. He was rushed to Erie County Medical Center in critical condition. Despite the efforts of medical staff, Rashad Patton succumbed to his injuries the following day, on Sunday, October 6, 2013, just twenty days before he would have celebrated his 31st birthday.
The shooting was believed to be gang-related, yet the homicide remains an unsolved case. To date, there have been no arrests made in connection with the murder of Rashad Patton, and no suspects have been publicly identified. The profound loss has had a lasting impact on his two sons, who were just five and nine years old at the time of their father's death. The family continues to mourn his absence, a stark reminder of the unsolved violence that took him from them.
