In the spring of 2014, a wave of violence rippled through Seattle's Central District, forever altering the lives of several families. Among the victims was Deszaun Smallwood, a 20-year-old Black / African American male, whose life was cut short on April 24th. On that Thursday evening, just before 6:45 p.m., Smallwood was shot multiple times in the Leschi neighborhood, in the 500 block of 28th Avenue South. He died at the scene, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.
The shooting was the culmination of a dispute that had started earlier in the day.
The tragic events were set in motion by an earlier altercation at Flo Ware Park, just two blocks from where the fatal shooting would later occur. Lorenzo Pratt, a 25-year-old member of the Deuce 8 street gang, had gotten into a fistfight with a friend of Smallwood's. Smallwood had initially attempted to de-escalate the situation. However, the conflict intensified, and Pratt, feeling he was losing the fight, retreated. It was later revealed that Pratt was already on edge, grieving the recent shooting death of his own friend just five days prior.
Fueled by anger and a desire for retribution, Pratt returned to the neighborhood a couple of hours after the initial fight. He confronted Smallwood, and during this second encounter, the altercation turned deadly. At nearly point-blank range, Pratt opened fire on Smallwood, who was unarmed. The investigation into the homicide was complicated by a lack of cooperation from many of the fifteen eyewitnesses, a silence largely attributed to fear of gang retaliation.
Despite the initial challenges, law enforcement identified Lorenzo Pratt as the primary suspect. Pratt, who was already wanted on a separate gun-related warrant, was featured on "Washington's Most Wanted." In June of that year, U.S. Marshals apprehended him in Portland, Oregon. Following his arrest, Pratt was charged with second-degree murder in connection with Deszaun Smallwood's death. In July 2015, Lorenzo Pratt pleaded guilty to the charge and was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison for the senseless act of violence that ended a young man's life.
