An eighth grader shot and killed in Southeast D.C. Tuesday was the fourth student from the same school killed by gun violence in the past 10 months, and the principal is begging parents to keep their kids inside at night.
Digital Pioneers Academy freshman Antoine Manning, 14, was shot and killed in the 2600 block of Birney Place SE about 8:40 p.m. on Halloween.
Then in November, 16-year-old Jakhi Snider was found suffering from a gunshot wound in the 1600 block of Morris Road SE. He later died at a hospital.
Demarcos Pinckney, 15, and his 17-year-old cousin Kevin Mason were killed in a shooting on Langston Place SE on Father’s Day.
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Then on Tuesday, 15-year-old Jaylin Osborne was shot and killed on Stanton Road SE.
“Jaylin was a really sweet kid,” Digital Pioneers Academy principal Mashea Ashton said. “He was quiet.”
Ashton said Jaylin just finished eighth grade two weeks ago and hoped to join the football team in the fall.
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“He was an incredibly loyal big brother,” Ashton said.
“I’m mostly just thinking about his friends and his family and his siblings right now,” she said.
The school again brought in grief counselors for students and staff Thursday morning.
“Our whole Digital Pioneers Academy is grieving right now,” Ashton said. “It is just tragic. We are incredibly sad; we’re angry.”
She sent a letter to parents Wednesday night asking them to keep their kids “in supervised activities during the day” and “indoors in the evening.”
“An Uno party or a movie night, but we’ve got to do something to stop what’s happening in terms of gun violence,” she said.
In January, Digital Pioneers Academy also lost a teacher. Keenan Anderson died hours after being tased during an arrest by the Los Angeles Police Department.
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