In the cold of a February night in Pittsburgh's Northview Heights neighborhood, the life of 16-year-old Derrick Brown was tragically cut short. An African-American male from the nearby community of Arnold, Derrick was found in a courtyard along Mt. Pleasant Road just before 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 19, 2017, with a fatal gunshot wound to his head. First responders rushed him to Allegheny General Hospital, but his injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead.
The medical examiner would later rule his death a homicide.
The scene of the shooting was a grim tableau, with investigators marking dozens of pieces of evidence in the courtyard. The tension in the neighborhood was palpable, to the extent that additional gunshots rang out in the vicinity while police were still processing the scene, a stark reminder of the persistent violence that plagued the community. Residents, shaken and fearful, spoke of the constant sound of gunfire, with one neighbor likening the barrage that claimed Derrick's life to the chaotic noise of an unbalanced washing machine.
In the wake of the shooting, family, friends, and community members gathered to mourn the loss of a young man they described as a 'good boy' who 'just wanted to be a kid.' His mother, Tamarra Goodwine, already knew the pain of gun violence, having lost Derrick's father the same way five years prior. Now, she was faced with the unimaginable task of explaining to her two-year-old son that his big brother would only ever be a face in pictures and a voice in old videos. The community's grief was mingled with frustration and a demand for action to stem the tide of violence that had claimed yet another young life.
Despite the public outcry and the ongoing investigation by Pittsburgh homicide detectives, no arrests have been made in connection with Derrick Brown's murder. His family's plea for the person responsible to 'put the guns down' echoes in a case that remains unsolved, leaving a family and a community waiting for justice.
