Tashawn Eddie Brown was 18 when he was fatally shot on the evening of May 19, 2021, on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard near Edgewood Park in New Haven, Connecticut. Family and friends had gathered at the park earlier that day to mourn a cousin; a dispute during the gathering was thought to have ended but escalated into gunfire later. Officers found Tashawn with a single gunshot wound; he was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital and pronounced dead. He was described by his mother as a provider for the family, a confidant, protective of his younger siblings, and planning to become an electrician. His younger siblings, ages 11, 10, and 8 at the time, witnessed the shooting.

Investigators later linked two members of a New Haven gang called Exit 8 to the case. In April 2024 Tyjon TJ Preston and Antawn Bandz Hill pleaded guilty to conspiring to murder Tashawn as part of plea agreements. The family’s loss and the questions from that night remain central to the case. Did anyone who attended the gathering that day see something that could help fill in what happened?