Family, Friends Remember Teen Fatally Shot Outside Of Boston High School

02:23

June 16, 2016

Delores Handy

Pallbearers carry the casket of Raekwon Brown out of the Charles Street AME Church. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

The funeral service held Thursday for the Roxbury teen shot and killed outside his high school last week was a scene of both grief and hope.

As 17-year-old Raekwon Brown was laid to rest, Boston police were still asking for anyone with information about the murder to come forward.

The high school junior was shot less than half a block from the Jeremiah E. Burke High School while he was out of the building during a fire alarm. Three others were injured in the shooting.

'Our Young Warrior'

Some would say you don't really know a person until you hear from those who knew him. There was so much to know about this young man.

Community activists, religious leaders and elected officials joined Raekwon's family and his fellow students from the Burke school for funeral services at the Charles Street A.M.E. Church in Roxbury.

Headmaster Lindsa McIntyre was among the mourners.

"This is the day that we celebrate the life of our young warrior," she said.

Raekwon stood out for many reasons, she said. He was easygoing, happy.

"School wasn't school without him, and he is somebody who came in — not at his best, but when he took the math MCAS he had a 90 percent student growth percentile. And his challenge before leaving this earth was, 'Watch me get an A in science,' " McIntyre said.

And she says he had just earned that A.

"Everybody loved him, he had a smile on his face all the time," assistant headmaster Amilcar Silva said.

'Seemed So Remarkably Random'

Also among the mourners was Dr. Sean Palfrey, a longtime pediatrician from Boston Medical Center.

"I know this family, I've been their pediatrician for decades," Palfrey said. "I know them well. It's just totally tragic. What a lovely guy, just sweet and caring. This seemed so remarkably random."

Raekwon was the youngest of nine children. His eight brothers and sisters joined his parents in a procession from the church following a horse-drawn carriage bringing Raekwon to his final resting place at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Roslindale.

Raekwon Brown's cousin, sets up balloons spelling out his name before his funeral ceremony Thursday. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Mourners filled the Charles Street AME Church and waited in a line flowing outside as they paid their respects to Raekwon during the wake. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

A grieving Wanda Graddy, Raekwon Brown's mother, is comforted by friends and family. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh expresses his condolences to Rawkwon's family. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Family members mourn during Raekwon Brown's funeral service. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Wanda Graddy wipes the face of her husband. (Jesse Costa/WBUR) — Wanda Graddy wipes the face of her husband Damien Graddy. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Mourners wrote personal messages on white balloons, which were given out to Burke High School students to release into the air at the burial site. (Jesse Costa/ WBUR)

Pallbearers put Raekwon's casket into a horse-drawn carriage that took him to the burial site. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Raekwon Brown's godmother Van Nessa Jemmott, known as "Auntie V," says goodbye. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

After putting Raekwon's casket onto the carriage, Stanley Wiggins pauses for a moment to say goodbye to his brother. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Raekwon Brown's casket is driven down Warren Street in a horse-drawn carriage to his burial site at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Roslindale. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

This segment aired on June 16, 2016.

Family, Friends Remember Teen Fatally Shot Outside Of Boston High School

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