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Ayo Dosunmu remembers Darius Brown, the friend he called 'my guy' who never reached eighth grade
Dosunmu says a stray shooting at a Chicago park took a friend who played as well as he did, and that the loss still shapes him.
A friend lost at a park
Darius Brown never got to reach eighth grade, and Ayo Dosunmu says he has never fully processed losing him. [1] Dosunmu was 11 years old when Darius died. [1]
Darius was a close friend, and Dosunmu called him 'my guy.' [1] Dosunmu says the whole world should know his name. [1]
Who Darius was
Darius was two years older than Dosunmu and played on Dosunmu's brother's team. [1] The two clicked right away, according to Dosunmu. [1]
Dosunmu says Darius was a basketball player with no other priorities. [1] He describes Darius as a lefty, more polished and more charismatic than himself. [1] Dosunmu says Darius was just as good as him, if not better. [1]
Darius also came up with the saying 'Jet Life,' which the two used together. [1]
Weekends with the family
Dosunmu's father would pick Darius up on weekends. [1] Darius slept over at the family's house and traveled with them to tournaments. [1]
The day of the shooting
The shooting happened during summer vacation. [1] Dosunmu's father fell asleep after work and asked that Darius be called and told the family would pick him up in the morning. [1]
Darius went to play pickup basketball at Metcalfe Park instead. [1] The game was at 5:30 p.m. on a Wednesday, in daylight. [1]
A car drove by Darius and shots rang out. [2] According to Dosunmu, the shooters were not trying to hit Darius, but the gunfire hit him anyway. [1] Darius was taken to the hospital and did not survive. [1]
The phone call
Dosunmu was in the shower when his mother called him repeatedly. [1] When he picked up the phone, she told him that Darius had been shot at the park. [1]
Dosunmu says Darius was not involved in crime and was not bothering anyone. [1]
What it left behind
After Darius's death, Dosunmu felt he could not fail, and that failure was not an option. [1]
Dosunmu says Chicago is hard for kids, with every day being a risk. [1]
What this means for families
Dosunmu says families in Chicago must stay on guard, because every day is a risk for kids. [1] In his account, Darius was a kid at a park in daylight on a summer Wednesday, and the shooters were not aiming at him. [1]
Sources
- This Jet Only Goes In One Direction by Ayo Dosunmu | The Players’ Tribune — theplayerstribune.com
- Then a car drives by. Shots ring out. They weren’t … — hoopshype.com
Written from the sources above and checked twice before publishing. How we work · Report an error
