On the evening of March 17, 2017, 15-year-old Keon Huff Jr. was found shot in the head in the hallway of a residential building on Garden Street in Hartford, Connecticut. Emergency responders arrived after a 10:39 p.m. call and paramedics pronounced Keon dead at the scene at 10:57 p.m.; his death was the city’s eighth homicide of the year.

Keon, a former AAU basketball player remembered for making people laugh, had been receiving support and mentorship from city leaders and community groups in the months before his death. Police charged a juvenile with murder, tampering with evidence, and carrying a pistol without a permit; court documents show the defendant said the shooting was accidental, but a witness contradicted that account and said the defendant told them to dispose of a shell casing.

Ultimately the top charge was reduced and the defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter with a firearm, tampering with evidence, and possession of a pistol without a permit.