Years apart, witnesses ignore cries for help after 2 boys shot

The story of a 13-year-old boy shot in Des Moines, whose pleas for help were largely ignored, brought back some tough memories for one local mom who has a message for the teen, and the community.

The Tukwila School District middle schooler was shot in the arm Monday, Nov. 26 as he waited for a Metro bus to take him to school. Police believe it was a random drive-by.

He is going to be OK. But when that teen tried to flag down cars for help, he was ignored. He was forced to run to another bus stop where someone finally called 911.

The Tukwila school district posted news of what had happened to Facebook, and how horrified the parents were by the lack of response from people as the teen pleaded for help.

Remembering Alajawan

When Ayanna Brown — who just retired from school district — saw the post, it brought back painful memories of an all-too-familiar scenario.

“This young person was asking for help and no one would help. People were denying helping him, and so it immediately made me remember what we learned during Alajawan’s case,” Brown said, referencing the 2010 murder of her son, Alajawan.

Alajawan was 12 years old when he was shot in the back as he got off a Metro bus in Skyway near a 7-11. The shooter mistook him for a rival gang member because of the blue color of his jacket.

It was a horrific scenario made even worse by what happened as Alajawan lay dying, surrounded by witnesses.

“He was asking for help. Witnesses said that he was saying ‘I’ve been shot somebody please help me,’ and there were a few, quite a few individuals who refused to help him,” Brown said.

Ayanna didn’t find out about people refusing to answer her son’s pleas for help until two years after he died — during his killer’s trial  — and was crushed by the lack of humanity her son experienced in his final moments.

One witness got off the same bus as Alajawan and saw everything, including the boy’s pleas for help.

“He was asked [at trial] ‘did you call 911,’ and his response was ‘no, it didn’t have anything to do with me … they wasn’t shooting it at me … it wasn’t any of my business, why I am I gonna call 911?’’’ Brown recalled.

That witness’s older brother was pumping gas at the gas station near where Alajawan was shot and lay dying.

“Yet again, witnesses the whole thing … hears my baby pleading for help, and apparently Alajawan dropped his … you know, he dropped his bag [when he was shot]. And instead of him helping my baby, he finished pumping his gas, put the gas cap on his tank, got in his car … pulled up to where Alajawan dropped his bag … and … and stole his bag,” Brown recalled.

Alajawan wanted to pay for everything he needed for football on his own, and had mowed lawns to earn the money. That day he took the bus to Walmart to buy new football cleats. That’s what was in the bag the witness stole.

Aryanna, who didn’t learn any of this until she listened to these witnesses at trial admit what they had done — or not done — was crushed by the lack of humanity her son experienced.

“And so now here I am, I’m having these mixed emotions because they’re testifying on our behalf … but at the same time I want to throw a brick and hit you in the middle of your forehead,” she recalled feeling during the 2012 trial.

And there were several others, including some who refused to talk to 911 even when it was dialed for them on someone else’s phone and handed to them.

“I just don’t understand how the human side doesn’t kick in. I mean even if you don’t … even if you are fearing for your own personal safety and don’t want to directly get involved, can you at least call 911?” Brown wondered.

But she stresses they were those who did help .. .including two people who did CPR to try to keep him alive until the ambulance arrived.

But nearly a decade after Alajawan’s death the thought of her son’s pleas being ignored by some still haunts her.

Des Moines shooting

Aryanna does not know the boy who was shot last Monday, and was heartbroken when she heard his pleas for help were ignored.

Her message for that boy: “I am so happy that he is OK, physically, that he physically survived this.”

Brown said she would love to give him a hug, and is ecstatic his parents did not have to experience burying their child. Her message for everyone else is simple.

“On behalf of myself and other parents, and these parents, I’m just making the appeal to the general public, if you see something make a call. Even if you feel like your own safety is in jeopardy, get yourself safe and make the call,” Brown said.

Not doing so could be the difference between life and death, but beyond that, she says it is the human thing to do.

“The whole idea that someone’s asking for help, and no one helping? I just don’t understand how the human heart and the human aspect is not connected,” Brown said.

In the years since their son’s death, Alajawan’s parents have focused on keeping their son’s legacy alive through a foundation in his name that helps with community, an annual backpack drive, and more that they believe their son would have wanted.

The gang member who killed Alajawan was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Des Moines police are still searching for whoever shot the 13-year-old. Thankfully, he is going to be OK.

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