‘He was loved’: Uniontown community reacts to accidental shooting death of 16-year-old

Andrew Havranek
·2 min read
1

Pastor Adam Lawson of Fresh Fire Church in Uniontown said he was stunned when he heard a 16-year-old was shot and killed Saturday.

“It’s almost disbelief,” Lawson said.

Last month, Lawson and his church started a community coalition to come together to find ways to curb the violence across the city.

It was something forced into action after police said a 14-year-old shot and killed a man just blocks from his church.

Now, another teen — a 14-year-old girl — is accused of shooting and killing 16-year-old Daejion Grant at a home on Wilson Avenue. Police say the girl thought the gun she was playing with was a BB gun when she pulled the trigger.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >> 14-year-old girl facing charges after 16-year-old boy is shot, killed in Uniontown

“You know, here we are. We can’t even get through a running seven to 14 days without some type of violence in our community,” Lawson said.

Debra James Bailey, a family friend of Grant, told Channel 11 he will be forever missed.

In a statement, Bailey said Daejion was a “beautiful, smart, friendly, kind and outgoing young man. He loved his mom, siblings, and family.”

“I know that teenagers are into a lot of things when they aren’t around their parents, but around me, he was always respectful and helpful,” Bailey said. “He was loved and will be greatly missed.”

According to a Facebook post, counselors are available at Manchester Academic Charter School in Pittsburgh until Thursday. That’s where Grant was a former student.

“It’s extremely senseless,” Lawson said. “We lost the life of a young man, but really the one who pulled the trigger, their life is destroyed too. It’s just sadness and disappointment.”

That 14-year-old girl is being charged as a juvenile in this investigation.

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