Dave Brown was 73 when he was shot and killed on December 2, 2019, while working at the Wash-N-Dry Laundromat on Broadway Avenue in Maple Heights, Ohio. A Vietnam veteran, Brown intervened when 32-year-old Carl V. Sanders arrived at the laundromat with his girlfriend and her cousin; Sanders opened fire and Brown was fatally wounded while trying to protect the two women, who were not injured.

Sanders was arrested after the shooting and later pleaded guilty to murder, felonious assault, and receiving stolen property. He was sentenced to life in prison and the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office said he would be eligible for parole in 30 years. Brown’s community remembered him as a dedicated worker and a brave man who tried to protect others.