DC community demands answers following fatal shooting of 13-year-old boy – WTOP News

WTOP/Mike Murillo

WTOP/Mike Murillo

Courtesy NBC Washington

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Hearken to WTOP’s Mike Murillo report which incorporates perspective from Karon Blake’s grandfather

“We would like justice. He was 13. He was a child!”

That’s what a girl who recognized herself as Karon Blake’s aunt stated Tuesday evening on the Turkey Thicket Recreation Middle in Northeast D.C., the place a whole bunch of group members gathered to ask questions and demand solutions from District leaders in addition to police over why the person accused of fatally capturing Blake has not been recognized or arrested.

“That man killed that boy. He killed that boy,” stated a Brookland resident, who requested officers to establish the person.

Police haven’t launched the title of the person who fired the gun; however police Chief Robert Contee stated earlier in a information convention that he was an African American man, is just not legislation enforcement, has a license to hold a hid weapon and a has firearm registered together with his residence. Police stated that no weapons have been recovered up to now.

Hours earlier than a scheduled group assembly, Contee gave an impassioned assertion to deal with what he referred to as the “spreading of inaccurate data” surrounding Blake’s loss of life.

Blake, of Northeast, was shot and killed on Saturday on the 1000 block of Quincy Road. A person confronted Blake after he had allegedly witnessed him break right into a automobile earlier than capturing and killing the teenager, in response to D.C. police.

“I don’t perceive why y’all let that man nonetheless go free,” stated Sean Lengthy, who stated he was Blake’s grandfather.

Lengthy stated the assembly, which was attended by Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker and Assistant Chief of Police Morgan Kane, nonetheless didn’t present sufficient solutions to the group’s questions, notably why the person had not been arrested and why he had not been recognized.

Final evening, Parker stated he requested officer physique digicam footage in connection to the police investigation, citing residents issues over lack of transparency.

“Please give me justice. Give that household justice. Do your job. Let the jury cope with it,” Lengthy stated. “Identical factor after they lock us up, they don’t ask no questions. We obtained to get the lawyer, we obtained to get the jury, the jury obtained to cope with us. Go get him out of there, and let the jury cope with him.”

Blake’s loss of life, Lengthy stated, is the worst loss of life he has ever been via, and that features his son, who was killed in 2009 over a battle.

“Now his son, now we have to bury his son now. His son obtained killed by a man, that he’s messing with the automobile. I didn’t know that you possibly can get a gun allow and shoot someone for messing with a automobile,” Lengthy stated.

One speaker requested why the person accused of capturing Blake was not taken into custody. Kane, the assistant police chief, tried to clarify why.

“I need you to know after we are speaking about an investigation the place somebody has misplaced their life, and I do know that we’re used to seeing folks instantly arrested on scene when now we have sufficient data to take action … On this circumstance, it requires additional investigation to find out what occurred,” Kane stated.

Earlier, Contee emphasised the method that police must undertake in terms of the case.

“We’re going to get this proper,” Contee stated. “We’re going to do it the correct means. And we’re not going to be influenced due to some individuals who assume that this could have occurred or that ought to have occurred.”

Kane echoed the police chief and stated the very last thing police need is to compromise the case.

“If we give the jury or the decide a case that isn’t prepared, and we don’t have all of the proof, the very last thing that we need to do, the very last thing that we need to do, is sacrifice an final result that you just all are on the lookout for,” Kane stated.

But some weren’t placated by Kane’s reply, together with a girl named Tracy who stated that understanding the identification of the person is “not breaching an investigation.”

Others within the assembly spoke about how they knew Blake.

“I met Karon when he was within the first grade,” stated one lady who held up an image of Karon on her telephone constructing a Lego home for his mom and sister. “He was a liked particular person. He was not a perp. He was not a suspect. He was a liked particular person.”

WTOP’s Mike Murillo, who reported from Northeast D.C., contributed to this report.