In the early hours of a Friday in Topeka, Kansas, the life of 19-year-old Ja’Sean Alston, a Black / African American male, was tragically cut short. On February 28, 2020, just before 1:30 a.m., reports of a shooting in the 1200 block of S.W. Washburn Avenue began to flood the Shawnee County Emergency Communications Center. Responding officers arrived to find a grim scene. Inside a vehicle, Ja’Sean was discovered suffering from life-threatening injuries.
Emergency medical services rushed him to a local hospital, but his wounds proved to be fatal, and he was pronounced dead.
Known to his friends and family as "Jay," Ja'Sean was a Topeka native who had graduated from Washburn Rural High School in 2018. He was remembered as a kind, caring, and generous individual who enjoyed playing video games, working on cars, and making music. He was a father to two children, with a third on the way, and cherished spending time with his loved ones. His death, the city's second homicide of the year, left his family and community grappling with a sudden and violent loss.
The investigation into Ja'Sean's death moved swiftly. A few days later, on a Monday afternoon, the Topeka Police Department made an arrest in connection with the fatal shooting. Eighteen-year-old Dmario M. Valdivia of Topeka was taken into custody. Authorities announced that Valdivia faced requested charges of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated robbery, bringing a suspect before the justice system in the wake of this tragedy.
