Shawn Plummer

On a summer afternoon in Queens, New York, 18-year-old Shawn Plummer, a promising high school football player, was riding his bicycle near his home in Far Rockaway. It was July 13, 2012, and he had another young man on his handlebars as they rode along Seagirt Boulevard. Suddenly, the sound of multiple gunshots pierced the air. One of the bullets struck Shawn in the forehead, ending his life. His mother recalled hearing eight or nine shots and having a sinking feeling that her son was involved.

Responding officers found Shawn with the fatal wound, and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital. An eyewitness reported seeing the other young man cradling Shawn and yelling, 'You killed my brother, you killed my brother.' Police believe that Shawn, who had aspirations of becoming a mechanic, was not the intended target but was tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time. His mother described him as a 'good kid' and believed his death was a case of mistaken identity.

The investigation into Shawn Plummer's murder was hampered by a lack of cooperating witnesses. Although detectives reportedly had a probable suspect, no one was willing to testify. In the years following his death, no arrests have been made, and the case remains unsolved, leaving his family searching for justice. The tragedy was compounded three years later when Shawn's 16-year-old brother, Neshawn, was also shot and killed in a nearly identical act of senseless gun violence just blocks from where his older brother died. The Queens District Attorney's Office has appealed to the public for any information regarding either of the brothers' murders.