What to Know
- Karon Brown, 11, was fatally shot in DC on July 18
- Police have charged 29-year-old Tony Antoine McClam with second-degree murder while armed
- The shooting happened a little more than a year after another child, 10-year-old Makiyah Wilson, was shot and killed in Northeast D.C.
An 11-year-old boy whose mother described him as "funny, loving and kind" was laid to rest Monday.
Karon Brown was killed in a shooting in Southeast D.C. in mid July.
Hundreds came to his funeral, many surrounding his mother with support as she walked into Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church.
Emotions in the community have teetered between despair and anger since Brown's death.
"It’s just so sad that they're dying at a young age," Calvin Adams said.
"I'm just tired of coming to funerals. Especially loved ones, you know, people we grew up with. I’m just tired," Brenda Marshall said.
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Brown was a fifth grader at DC Scholars Stanton Elementary. Police have said he was at a gas station July 18 when several adults got into an argument and started shooting. At some point, the 11-year-old made it into a car at the gas station. But someone fired multiple shots into the car, striking the boy, police said.
Assistant Police Chief Robert J. Contee III has said authorities were not sure who was targeted inside the vehicle.
As officers arrived at the scene, they learned Brown had been taken to a fire station in Prince George's County. He was then taken to a hospital, where he died, police said.
Police have charged 29-year-old Tony Antoine McClam with second-degree murder while armed.
The shooting happened a little more than a year after another child, 10-year-old Makiyah Wilson, was shot and killed in Northeast D.C. on July 16, 2018.
Wilson's cousin Yodie Baker attended Brown's funeral.
"When we start losing kids that means it’s bad. It's really bad because we need to put down the guns. It has to be a change," Baker said.
Brown's 12-year-old brother was with him at the time, their devastated mother said.
"You don't know how much you've taken away from us," she said, addressing the shooter.
A day after the shooting, a local leader expressed heartbreak and frustration.
"The individuals that live in Ward 8 should be outraged, at that 11-year-old could be shot in broad daylight and some ignorant individual can come out and disregard cameras and human life," Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Paul Trantham said. "You've got kids walking these streets."
