James Exavier Bam Bam

In the winter of 2004, the life of 17-year-old James Exavier Richardson, a promising running back for Ballou Senior High School's football team, was tragically cut short. Known affectionately by his friends and family as 'Bam Bam' and 'J-Rock,' Richardson was a young man with a future gleaming with potential. On the evening of Monday, February 2, 2004, in Washington, D.C., that future was violently extinguished.

The incident unfolded as a result of gun violence, a plague that has claimed ...