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Kentucky’s largest metropolis is mourning nan caller shooting decease of a teenage boy who had earned a municipal commendation months earlier for defending a young woman from intersexual harassment – and survived being stabbed successful nan process.
Da’Jon Anthony Hayes-Burr, 15, was changeable connected Saturday nighttime successful Louisville’s Shawnee neighborhood, according to authorities there. He was later pronounced dormant astatine a hospital, and constabulary booked a 14-year-old connected a count of murder, arsenic nan Louisville news outlet WAVE first reported.
Police neither named nan arrested teen because of nan suspect’s property nor released a imaginable motive successful nan killing, saying it remained nether investigation. But aft nan section coroner’s agency identified Hayes-Burr arsenic nan unfortunate successful nan case, tributes poured successful for nan boy, who successful April had made headlines for protecting a preteen woman from being sexually harassed by a man much than 3 times her age.
As nan girl’s mother recounted to nan Louisville news outlet WLKY, she and her 12-year-old girl were leaving a fireworks show erstwhile she heard a man nonstop a intersexual remark toward nan child.
Kristyn Stasel told nan man that her girl was 12, she said to nan station. Stasel recalled him rejoining, “Never excessively young to person immoderate fun,” truthful she began screaming for thief and yelling, “Pedophile! Pedophile!”
Hayes-Burr heard Stasel’s cries and – pinch different teenage boys – confronted nan man, who was later identified arsenic 45-year-old Vasilis Sakellardis, WLKY reported.
Sakellardis allegedly tried to complaint Stasel but was thrown to nan crushed by Hayes-Burr and nan different boys. A tussle ensued while Stasel and her girl kept walking, and Sakellardis evidently stabbed Hayes-Burr earlier constabulary reportedly tackled nan attacker and arrested him.
Hayes-Burr later said to nan Louisville news outlet WHAS aft spending 1 nighttime astatine a hospital. He said to nan position that he ne'er imagined being put successful a position for illustration that – but stepped successful aft realizing “a batch of grown men astir … weren’t going to do [anything]”.
“So, we had to do something,” Hayes-Burr said.
Stasel told WHAS that Hayes-Burr and nan others who faced Sakellardis “were raised right”. The Louisville metropolis assembly subsequently awarded Hayes-Burr a proclamation, saying he demonstrated “extraordinary courage, compassion and selflessness” – arsenic good arsenic “valor acold beyond his years” by intervening connected behalf of Stasel.
Andy Beshear, nan Kentucky governor, successful May sent Hayes-Burr a missive thanking him for his courageousness and selflessness – a missive which included a ceremonial challenge coin recognizing nan teen’s bravery.
In a statement connected Monday addressing Hayes-Burr’s death, Beshear said he and his wife, Britainy, “are praying for Da’Jon’s family and each those affected by this tragedy”.
“Da’Jon was a kid of God whose life was taken acold excessively soon, and his bravery and selflessness will time off a lasting effect connected nan Louisville community” and each of Kentucky.
A abstracted connection from Crystal Bast, a Louisville assembly member, said she could not thief ruminating “about nan early this young man should person had”.
“I can’t extremity reasoning astir … nan life he should person lived [and] nan quality he could person continued making successful this world,” Bast said of Hayes-Burr, who was preparing to participate his sophomore twelvemonth successful precocious school. “We person babies retired present sidesplitting babies. Something has to change.”
Attempts to interaction Stasel connected Monday were unsuccessful. But, connected her societal media, she shared a news communicative of Hayes-Burr’s sidesplitting and shared a nexus to an online fundraiser dedicated to assisting his mother, Lakeita.
Since 2020, firearms are nan starring origin of decease for children and adolescents successful nan US betwixt nan ages of 1 and 19, up of car accidents and poisoning, according to researchers.
A connection attributed to Hayes-Burr’s family and reported connected by WAVE called his decease “tragic and senseless”.
The connection besides asked nan nationalist “to grant Da’Jone’s representation by choosing kindness, opinionated up for others, and helping america put an extremity to nan senseless unit that continues to return nan lives of our young people”.
“Da’Jon will ever beryllium remembered arsenic a hero, a loving son, a cherished family personnel and a young man whose courageousness will ne'er beryllium forgotten,” nan connection said.
