In the early morning hours of December 2, 2020, the life of 18-year-old Daunte O. Frazier, a Black/African American male, was tragically cut short in Spokane, Washington. The setting was a house party on North Jefferson Street, where a gathering of friends turned fatal. Inside the residence, the atmosphere was a mixture of celebration and recklessness, as teenagers were drinking, dancing, and carelessly brandishing firearms.
According to court documents, videos from that night showed
Frazier and other partygoers, including Jaliauna S. Templeton, then 18, pointing guns at one another. Just before the fatal shot, a small group was in a bedroom where Frazier sat on the bed. Templeton was dancing in front of him, holding a pistol in one hand and her phone in the other. In a sudden, catastrophic moment, the gun in Templeton's hand discharged, and a bullet struck Frazier in the head. Witnesses described seeing her standing with the smoking gun before she dropped it and collapsed to her knees in shock as Frazier fell to the floor. Friends at the scene, including a 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old man, attempted chest compressions in a desperate effort to save him, but his injury was too severe.
Jaliauna Templeton was arrested and charged with first-degree manslaughter for the shooting. The investigation concluded that the shooting was accidental, a result of reckless behavior involving alcohol and loaded weapons. In March 2022, Templeton pleaded guilty to the charge. During her sentencing in August 2022, a tearful and remorseful Templeton apologized for her actions. The judge, considering her youth at the time of the incident and other mitigating factors, sentenced her to five years in prison, which was below the standard sentencing range of six-and-a-half to eight-and-a-half years.
The aftermath of Frazier's death extended beyond the initial incident. In May 2022, Templeton was the apparent target of a drive-by shooting that occurred across the street from the same house where Frazier died. The suspect, Duane G. Delaney, was identified as Frazier's cousin and a fellow member of the Swavii street gang. Investigators believed the shooting was an act of revenge for Frazier's death. Delaney was arrested and later pleaded guilty to lesser charges of assault and unlawful possession of a firearm.
