Dayviontay T. Jackson was 17 and a senior at Waukegan High School when he was killed on November 11, 2016, during an argument at a home on McKinley Avenue in Waukegan, Illinois. Court records say Dayviontay and Willie C. Jackson, who were not related, were passing around an AR-15 and a pistol with others present; Willie Jackson later said Dayviontay pointed the AR-15 at him and he shot in fear for his life. Prosecutors said Dayviontay was unarmed when he was shot ten times with the AR-15.

Willie Jackson fled after the shooting and a warrant was issued; he was arrested in Tennessee in January 2017. At trial he testified he acted in self-defense, but a Lake County jury found him guilty of first-degree murder after more than six hours of deliberation. He was sentenced in April 2021 to 36 years, to be served under truth-in-sentencing guidelines.

What details about the night on McKinley Avenue or about Dayviontay’s life might help explain how the situation escalated?