Jett Gerald Higham, an 18-year-old male, had only been in Richmond, Virginia, for six days when his life was tragically cut short on July 2, 2013. A recent high school graduate with a passion for photography and art, Jett was described by his family as a dreamer with a larger-than-life personality and an infectious innocence. He had even appeared as an extra in several television shows and films. Born in New York, New York, on March 15, 1995, he was just beginning to find and celebrate life.
His mother, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, later reflected on her son as a 'gorgeous young black man.'
On that warm July evening, Jett went for a walk to a nearby store to get some candy, a regular after-dinner ritual of his. Just three blocks from his home in the Jackson Ward neighborhood, he was attacked in what police described as a robbery gone horribly wrong. Jett was shot in the neck and pronounced dead at the scene, found in an alley off East Marshall Street. The motive for this senseless act of violence was reportedly his cellphone and the $4.00 he had in his pocket.
The Richmond Police Department responded swiftly to the incident. Within 15 minutes of the murder, officers who were already in the area arrested the first two suspects. A third suspect was taken into custody the following night. The three individuals arrested in connection with the homicide were identified as 20-year-old Myles Sanders, 18-year-old Billy Reynolds, and an unnamed 16-year-old. All three were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Jett's family, including his parents and sister, were left to mourn the loss of a promising young life taken over a trivial amount of money and a phone.
