Precisely a month after 14-year-old Rashawn Williams was fatally stabbed outside a Mission District convenience store by a former middle school classmate, his family painfully, yet prominently, displayed his picture on the lawn outside the Hall of Justice on Oct. 2.
Williams’ family, who created the makeshift memorial honoring the fallen teen at 850 Bryant St., demanded justice.
“The family wants the murderer to be tried as an adult,” said Williams’ aunt Ruth Morales, as she set up signs that read “Stop Bullying” and “Justice for Rashawn.”
The Oct. 2 rally was spurred on by District Attorney George Gascón’s decision to have the 14-year-old suspect’s trial take place in juvenile court.
“It’s not right that he took Rashawn’s life, and that they’re talking about releasing him at age 23, if he gets convicted as a juvenile,” said Morales. “That’s not right. It was premeditated. And it was violent. He needs to be tried as an adult.”
Williams was exiting the Rubin Market liquor store at 26th and Folsom streets on Sept. 2 when he was fatally attacked by two boys. The one 14-year-old suspect that was arrested a day after the attack had known him since kindergarten, Williams’ family said.
Williams, who was a freshman at Sacred Heart Cathedral on a near full academic scholarship, had attended Buena Vista Horace Mann Elementary school with the suspect.
The victim’s family claims that the fatal incident stemmed from Williams being bullied by the suspect last year.
“I don’t really believe it was so much of a tragedy, because the red flags were there,” Morales said. “We went to the people that we had to go to, to ask for help. And we didn’t get the help that we needed.”
During a San Francisco Unified School District board meeting on Sept. 23, Williams’ family informed the school board that they had in fact brought the bullying issue to the school’s attention.
“I come before you today, the same way that my sister went to her school and asked for help,” Morales said at the school board on Sept. 23. “So please do not fail us again…When our children cry for help, they need help.”
El Tecolote contacted school officials at Horace Mann for comment, and the school district’s Chief Communications Officer Gentle Blythe responded:
“Due to Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, SFUSD staff cannot discuss any current or former students with members of the public.”
Williams’ family is currently gathering signatures for an online petition to have the suspect tried as an adult.
Greg Feldman, attorney in the city’s Public Defender’s office, is representing the suspect. The next court date in the case is scheduled for Oct. 21 at the Youth Guidance Center.