On a tragic Wednesday afternoon, June 8, 2016, the life of 17-year-old Raekwon Jaquay Brown was cut short by gun violence outside of his high school in Boston, Massachusetts. The shooting took place around 1:15 p.m. near the Jeremiah E. Burke High School, as students were exiting the building following a fire alarm. In the midst of the chaos, Raekwon was fatally wounded.
Three other individuals were also injured in the shooting, including two other teenagers and a 67-year-old woman.
The brazen daylight shooting of a high school junior prompted a swift and determined investigation by the Boston Police Department. Family and community members remembered Raekwon as a caring and upstanding student, and his death sent shockwaves through the neighborhood, highlighting the devastating impact of gun violence on young lives. His family and friends were left grappling with the senseless loss, with some hearing the shooting may have stemmed from a school argument.
The investigation, aided by camera footage and other digital evidence, led to the arrests of multiple suspects. Within weeks of the shooting, Jonathan Aguasvivas, 23, of Roxbury, and Benzy Bain, 24, of Mattapan, were arrested and charged with murder. Both were ordered to be held without bail. A third suspect, 20-year-old Jaden Waiters of Boston, was apprehended later through the collaborative efforts of the Boston Police's Fugitive Apprehension Unit and U.S. Marshals. The legal proceedings that followed resulted in a measure of justice for Raekwon's family, with at least one of the individuals responsible for his death being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
