Black Teen Who Previously Protected Girl Being Sexually Harassed By Grown Man Fatally Shot In Louisville
A Black teen in Louisville, Kentucky, who became a local hero after he defended a 12-year-old girl who was being sexually harassed by an adult, was tragically shot and killed Saturday night, and a 14-year-old has been accused of his murder.
According to WAVE, 15-year-old Da’Jon Anthony Hayes-Burr was shot in the 3800 block of Alford Ave. in Louisville’s Shawnee neighborhood. After the shooting, Da’Jon was rushed to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Due to the accused shooter’s age, authorities have not publicly identified them, nor have they released a possible motive in the killing, which remains under investigation.
So, we don’t know why Da’Jon is dead, but we have an idea about who he was when he lived.
From The Guardian:
As the girl’s mother recounted to the Louisville news outlet WLKY, she and her 12-year-old daughter were leaving a fireworks show when she heard a man direct a sexual comment toward the child.
Kristyn Stasel told the man that her daughter was 12, she said to the station. Stasel recalled him rejoining, “Never too young to have some fun,” so she began screaming for help and yelling, “Pedophile! Pedophile!”
Hayes-Burr heard Stasel’s cries and – with other teenage boys – confronted the man, who was later identified as 45-year-old Vasilis Sakellardis, WLKY reported.
Sakellardis allegedly tried to charge Stasel but was thrown to the ground by Hayes-Burr and the other boys. A tussle ensued while Stasel and her daughter kept walking, and Sakellardis evidently stabbed Hayes-Burr before police reportedly tackled the attacker and arrested him.
“It’s like, I can’t even feel it, for real,” Da’Jon told WHAS 11, recalling that he never saw the knife before finding he had been stabbed. “I didn’t feel it until my friend told me I was stabbed.”
As for the disgusting predator who felt perfectly comfortable making sexual advances towards a pre-teen right in front of her mother, Da’Jon said he and his friend had to act because the other adult men in the area would not.
“It was a lot of grown men around. They weren’t gonna do nothing. So, we had to do something,” he said.
Da’Jon’s mother, LaKeita Smith-Burr, told WHAS that this is simply how her son was raised.
“If you see a defenseless person, no matter who it is, help. If you can,” Smith-Burr said. “Every one of his friends. My cousin. His brothers. I’m so proud of all of them.”
As she should be.
According to the Guardian, for his heroism, Da’Jon was awarded a proclamation by the Louisville city council, which said in a statement that he demonstrated “extraordinary courage, compassion and selflessness” as well as “valor far beyond his years” by his act of bravery. In May, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear sent Da’Jon a letter thanking him for his courage, along with a ceremonial challenge coin recognizing his bravery.
According to WAVE, Da’Jon’s family said in a statement that the teen’s death was “tragic and senseless,” and asked the public “to honor Da’Jon’s memory by choosing kindness, standing up for others, and helping us put an end to the senseless violence that continues to take the lives of our young people”.
“Da’Jon will always be remembered as a hero, a loving son, a cherished family member and a young man whose courage will never be forgotten,” the statement said.
Rest well, Da’Jon Anthony Hayes-Burr. You will be remembered as the hero you were.
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