Zion Willis was 16 when she died in the Bronx on November 12, 2015, from a gunshot wound to the head. A promising young dancer who had once studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and who worked part time as a counselor for troubled youth, Willis was visiting a Mount Eden apartment on East 171st Street when the fatal shooting occurred.

Police say the apartment resident, 42-year-old Dale Weston, showed Willis and another young woman a .40-caliber pistol and then left the room, leaving the firearm behind. Willis picked up the gun and, while looking down the barrel, it discharged. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Weston fled immediately after the shooting, taking the gun, and was later identified by police and arrested on charges that included criminally negligent homicide and criminal possession of a weapon; authorities confirmed he owned the handgun illegally. The death was described as a tragic accident from mishandling an illegal firearm.

If anyone knew Zion, the circumstances of that visit, or has information about what happened that day, please share what is remembered.