A homeowner in Washington, D.C., shot and killed a 13-year-old boy who was outside around 4 am on January 7, 2023. Although police are carefully protecting the identity of the shooter, the community demands cops release the name of the person who used their firearm to murder the 13-year-old child, Karon Blake. The homeowner claimed that he was awakened by the sound of noises outside the home and looked outside to see the little boy “tampering with a vehicle.”
The homeowner claimed that he confronted Blake about the possible car theft, and they got into a disagreement until the homeowner ended the conversation by shooting the 13-year-old dead. Police arrived at the scene after the homeowner had blasted the unarmed child. The boy suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was rushed to the hospital, where he later died.
Police are currently protecting the homeowner who used their legally registered firearm to murder the Black boy. The shooting occurred along Quincy Street in the early morning hours. After the homeowner shot the teen multiple times, he began performing CPR on the dying boy.
The homeowner claimed that Blake was not acting alone. Two other underage boys were said to also have been with him. However, these youths allegedly fled the scene before the homeowner could kill them.
Police found a stolen car in the area of the shooting. They believe that Blake, a student at Brookland Middle School, had used the stolen vehicle.
The community demanded that authorities release the name of the shooter and charged the man with murder for killing an unarmed thirteen-year-old child in the early morning hours.
Washington D.C. police are trying to protect the homeowner from the fury of the community, but they have begun talking to the United States Attorney’s Office to decide if the shooter should be charged in Blake’s unfortunate death.
“Vigilante behavior is not the way to go about it,” Frankie Seabron, a member of the D.C. Safety Squad – an activist group – said. “We really should value people more than we value property.”
D.C. Safety Squad Nee Nee Taylor told The Washington Post: “We cannot normalize people feeling that bringing a gun to a car break-in or a carjack, or anything involved in property, is a solution to decrease crime.”
Councilman Zachary Parker agrees with the community that the killer acted wrongly.
“No car or material possession is worth a life – under any circumstances,” Parker said in a written statement. “I join Ward 5 residents in calling on the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to hold accountable the individual who took Karon’s life. Our community’s healing is linked to the trust we are able to cultivate with those tasked with keeping us safe, and I believe our neighbors are entitled to knowing more about the circumstances of Karon’s death.”
Thousands of people across the country agree – you can replace a car, but not a child. Karon Blake should still be alive.