Though an arrest has been made in the slaying of a beloved Mission District teenager, the crime has left even jaded law enforcement officers shaken, and the youth's family wondering why the suspect's aggression toward the boy had gone on for as long as it did.

As previously reported, 14-year-old Rashawn Williams was fatally stabbed Tuesday night on Folsom Street near 26th Street, shortly after buying candy at a nearby market.

According to witnesses, Williams, who was accompanied by two of his younger brothers, was jumped by a teen who was loitering outside the store, and was stabbed in the chest. Though his mother transported him to the hospital, he was pronounced dead at San Francisco General Tuesday night.

Williams had just started his freshman year at San Francisco's Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory school, where he had attended orientation and a week of high school before his death.

Described to the SF Examiner as "bright and motivated," it was Williams' "academic excellence" (he had a 4.0 gpa at Horace Mann) that got him, the Chron reports, a near-full scholarship at the competitive institution.

While at Horace Mann, Williams had participated in a Mission Local reporting workshop. You can see him in the video below, addressing issues of race, and sharing his thoughts on President Obama.

According to Williams' family members, it was one of his Horace Mann classmates who was responsible for the stabbing, another 14-year-old who, Maria MacMurray, Williams' aunt told KTVU, had been regularly harassing Williams.

Horace Mann officials were aware of the aggressive acts, MacMurray said, but Williams took a peaceful path. "You know he put up with [the threats]; didn't give a fight or anything," MacMurray said.

Horace Mann officials had "a record before he graduated. This kid was troubling him made threats over the Internet," MacMurray said. (According to an SFUSD spokesperson, federal law prevents officials from commenting regarding issues between students.)

Williams "had a lot of friends," his uncle, Elwood MacMurray told ABC7. The stabbing suspect, he says, "was jealous of [Williams] ever since from kindergarten to 8th grade."

Though San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr confirmed to ABC7 "that the victim and suspect both went to the same middle school," no other details around the motive for the slaying have been released by police.

SFPD is also not identifying the suspect, who remains in custody because he "is also a juvenile and therefore name is not public record," SFPD spokesperson Office Albie Esparza says. As of late Wednesday, the case had yet to be presented to prosecutors, according to the Chron.

One thing police officers like Suhr will say is that Williams' death has hit them particularly hard.

"This is one of the ones when we're really feeling it around the Hall of Justice," Suhr told the Chron.

"He was on the path that so many San Francisco police officers have taken...It just keeps running in my head over and over again. It's just so sad."

[SF Examiner]
[Mission Local]
[SF Chronicle]
[KTVU]
[ABC7]