Dontea ’Ted’ Bascom was a 16-year-old African American male from Brooklyn who was fatally shot on the evening of April 17, 2015, while sitting outdoors at the Marcy Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Neighbors reported a rapid burst of gunfire in the courtyard just after 7 p.m.; Bascom was struck in the groin and taken to a hospital in critical condition, where he later died. His younger cousin, Michael Parnell, was also wounded and survived.

Early accounts said the boys had been sitting on a bench and that investigators pulled several people from a nearby apartment for questioning shortly after the shooting, though no immediate charges followed. Bascom’s father, Sherwayne Bascom, said his son had been at home earlier that day in Prospect Lefferts Gardens before going to Marcy Houses to see girls he knew; family and community members described neighborhood rivalries and territorial boundaries as context for the violence. On May 13, 2015, police announced the arrest of Brooklyn teenager Elijah Morton and charged him with second-degree murder, attempted murder, and weapons offenses in connection with the shooting.

If anyone knew Ted, Michael Parnell, or has information about what happened that night, please share what is known.