In the early morning hours of November 3, 2021, shots were heard in a Federal Way, Washington neighborhood around 3:30 a.m. Officers who checked the area initially found no evidence of a shooting. Around 7:30 a.m., a resident walking through a local park found the body of 13-year-old Avril AJ Brown Jr., a Black eighth-grade student at Einstein Middle School in Shoreline. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office determined he died of gunshot wounds and ruled his death a homicide.

Detectives from the Federal Way Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Section opened an intensive investigation. The community reacted with shock; a GoFundMe was set up to help his mother with funeral expenses.

If anyone has information about what happened to AJ or was in the area that morning, please come forward to assist this active investigation.