Da’Jon Hayes-Burr, honored for defending a 12-year-old from harassment, killed months later
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The 15-year-old was recognized by local and state leaders in Kentucky for his bravery months before he was fatally shot.
Louisville is grieving a 15-year-old who embodied the kind of courage most adults never summon, a boy who put himself between a young girl and a grown man’s harassment, and who has now been taken by the very gun violence claiming far too many young lives.
According to the Guardian, Da’Jon Anthony Hayes-Burr was shot Saturday night in Louisville’s Shawnee neighborhood and later pronounced dead at a hospital. Police booked a 14-year-old on a murder charge, though authorities have not released a motive as the investigation continues. His death carries a particular weight because just months earlier, Hayes-Burr had been celebrated as a hero.
That recognition traced back to an incident in April. As the girl’s mother, Kristyn Stasel recounted, she and her 12-year-old daughter were leaving a fireworks show when a 45-year-old man directed a sexual comment at the child.
When Stasel noted her daughter’s age, she says the man replied, “Never too young to have some fun,” prompting her to scream for help. Hayes-Burr and several other teenage boys rushed in, confronting the man and throwing him to the ground. During the struggle, the attacker stabbed Hayes-Burr before police intervened.
Speaking to WHAS after a night in the hospital, Hayes-Burr explained his decision plainly, saying he stepped in after realizing the grown men nearby “weren’t going to do” anything. “So, we had to do something,” he said.
His bravery didn’t go unnoticed. As reported by the Guardian, the Louisville city council issued a proclamation honoring his “extraordinary courage, compassion and selflessness,” and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear sent him a letter and a ceremonial challenge coin. Following his death, Beshear called him “a child of God whose life was taken far too soon,” adding that his bravery “will leave a lasting impact.”
Council member Crystal Bast gave voice to the collective heartbreak, lamenting “the future this young man should have had” and declaring, “We have babies out here killing babies. Something has to change.”
In a statement reported by WAVE, Hayes-Burr’s family asked the public to honor him “by choosing kindness, standing up for others,” vowing he would “always be remembered as a hero.”
His family created a GoFundMe to help with funeral costs.