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They say that those who don’t know the story are doomed to repeat it: eight years after Jordan Davis, 17, was shot dead after listening to loud music with his friends, another black teenager experienced the same similar fate. discussion with a white man.
Although police did not disclose her name, the victim later known as Aidan Ellison, 19, according to The Oregonian.
The young black man was fatally injured by Robert Paul Keegan, a 47-year-old Oregon boy, in the parking lot of a Stratford Inn in Ashland in the early morning of November 23. The two had discussed the volume of Ellison’s music, according to Keegan has since been charged with murder.
Keegan, a resident of Talent, Oregon, had stayed at the hostel with his circle of relatives after being displaced by the Almeda fires in September, an Ashland city manager told VICE News. Ellis was also at the hostel at the time of the shooting. Some time after the return, the suspect pulled a gun out of his coat and fired a bachelor shot at the victim’s chest, according to police.
Police said they won a call about the shooting around 4:20 a. m. local time and that the young man had already died when they arrived at the place. Keegan, who was still at the site of the shooting when the government arrived, was arrested. and the young man was not known before the discussion and that the investigation into the shooting is still ongoing.
Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara bit back as to who is to blame for the fatal encounter.
“The only thing that caused this murder was the movements [of] the suspects, one hundred percent,” he said in a Facebook post last Thursday. “Yes, there was a discussion about music. No, it wasn’t done by loud music. This happened because the suspect chose to bring a gun with him and chose to use it. [He’s] 100 percent in him, not the deficient young man who murders.
Jim Tumpane, the owner of the Stratford Inn, also shared his condolences with Ellison’s family circle and enjoyed them four days after the tragic shooting.
“Our hearts weep for their circle of family and friends,” Tumpane said in a Facebook post. “We appreciate the vigils that have been coordinated. Come and take a moment to leave a candle at the site of the vigil in our parking lot in honor of Aidan. We also welcome and strongly inspire the demonstration of the symptoms of “Black Lives Matter” on our property. »
Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer who lately represents the families of black men killed through law enforcement, adding George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, used Twitter to express his frustration at the shooting.
“Aidan Ellison will be alive today, but Robert Keegan shot him for ‘strong music’, BUT it wasn’t a matter of music,” he wrote in a thread about Ellison’s death.
He asked why Keegan had not been charged with a hate crime in Ellison’s death. He also said Oregon is not his basic state but does not require armed citizens with a duty to retire.
Keegan will face second-degree murder, first-degree murder, reckless danger and illegal possession of a weapon, according to Ashland police, who have already pleaded not guilty. Chief O’Meara told VICE News that he is being held in the Jackson County Jail without bail and is scheduled to appear for the first time on February 21, 2021.
A GoFundMe page has been created to help Ellison’s mother. Close friends of the murdered teenager also promoted hoodies on Etsy reminiscent of Ellison, whose earnings will also pass to Ellison’s mother, according to KOBI-5, NBC associate Orepassn.
The fatal shooting in Ashland not only has a striking resemblance to Davis’ shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, but also occurred exactly 8 years after the day the young black teenager lost his life. On November 23, 2012, Davis shot dead through Michael Dunn. after 45 years, a white man, after the two discussed loud music at a fuel station. Three other teenagers were in the car Dunn shot, but Dunn only hit Davis, in his legs, lungs and heart.
In 2014, Dunn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.
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