Day’von Hann was only 15 when he was shot and killed in July 2019, but a suspect has finally been identified and arrested with the FBI's help.
It’s been more than 13 months since a 15-year-old was shot and killed at 24th and Capp Streets last summer, with tragically little progress in finding the killer. Until this morning, that is, and it turns out the FBI Safe Streets Task Force had been involved in the investigation of the murder of that youngster Day’von Hann. KPIX reports that the FBI has made an arrest and says it was connected to gang activity, arresting Fernando Madrigal, and alleging he was a member of the Norteños, all the more tragic because the young victim was actually quite active in a youth violence prevention group United Playaz.
A march was held in Day’von Hann’s honor just last month, according to KRON4, as the one-year anniversary of his death overlapped with the July 4 shooting of a six-year-old in the Bayview. “My son was on summer vacation with his friends walking home so when it comes down to it, we have to blame the people who are actually responsible,” Hann’s mother Sharay Johnson told KRON 4. “The ones who are going out here and killing.”
15-year-old Day’von Hann’s funeral has come and gone but his death will be felt forever. We owe it to his mother Sha’ray Johnson to hear the devastating affects of gun violence, at a City Hall press conference renewing the fight against it pic.twitter.com/5JsXee5H86
— Ida Mojadad (@idamoj) July 30, 2019
Just after Hann’s killing, the Examiner reported the additional heartbreaking detail that his final text message was to his United Playaz program coordinator, saying he was going to come into the group’s headquarters to do some volunteer work the next day. He would not survive to see that next day, and would have started attending Lincoln High as a freshman in the 2019-2020 school year.
Days before the Day’von Hann shooting, his alleged killer posted a video on Instagram of a rifle. Another video showed the suspect wearing a glove to load the rifle, possibly “to avoid leaving evidence such as DNA or fingerprints on the ammunition,” per FBI. pic.twitter.com/FbRuQBx0TV
— Michael Barba (@mdbarba) August 14, 2020
Mission Local has some details on the alleged homicide, notably that Hann was mistaken for a rival gang member, and authorities are confident Hann himself was not involved with the gangs. The accused killer, Madrigal, allegedly drove off with a group and fired another shot at Bernal Dwellings apartments some five blocks away, and then were pursued by police in a high-speed chase that led to San Mateo County, and the successful evasion of authorities.
FBI Deputy Special Agent Craig Fair said this morning that “We are alleging that Madrigal killed this victim over a meaningless territorial dispute with a rival gang,” and that authorities “confirmed Madrigal’s gang membership through a series of law enforcement actions, Madrigal’s own statements, and additional evidence we collected from his social media accounts, including his Instagram account.”
Per Mission Local, Madrigal is charged with “murder in the aid of racketeering with malice aforethought,” which could make him eligible for the death penalty. Though, of course, Governor Newsom has halted the death penalty in California.
Related: Victim in South of Market Shooting Dies, SFPD Has Suspect in Custody [SFist]
Image: Krystal Morales, United Playaz
