Important: please make your call by November 30th, as the district attorney’s office needs time before the trial.
On Tuesday September 2, 2014 our amazing son, brother, nephew and friend Rashawn Williams was taken from us. He was walking with his little brothers to a neighborhood store in the Mission District of San Francisco when he was stabbed to death. He was killed in broad daylight on the street in front of his brothers, ages 6 and 12. Rashawn was only 14 years old.
It is with a heavy heart that we remember our beloved Rashawn Williams.
My family and I are now asking you for your help.
Rashawn Williams was an innocent kid. He had recently been admitted to Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory as a President’s Scholar — a coveted title and scholarship that he had earned because of his excellent academic record and demonstrated leadership skills. He was a straight A student at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community School and was fluent in Spanish and English. He told his family that he was going to attend Harvard University one day and major in engineering.
He was murdered late on a Tuesday afternoon by two killers, one of which was his former classmate. The other has not been caught yet. Our family was absolutely devastated by this atrocious event and we thought dealing with Rashawn’s death was hard enough. About a week after he was murdered, however, we were shocked to learn that the murderer is only being charged as a minor, which means that he will be free at the age of 23 or earlier. The killer in custody had planned and announced the killing and he committed the murder in cold blood. His actions are the ones of an adult criminal, and we are devastated that he might get away with such a light sentence.
We are urging you to sign an online petition, call the District Attorney’s office, or both to ask that the killer be charged as an adult. We are absolutely convinced that he will not stop killing if he is only charged as a minor and released at the age of 23, assuming that he gets the maximum sentence, which is not a guarantee. If he is capable of killing such a harmless, innocent person as Rashawn, who never purposely caused harm to anyone, it is possible that he could severely harm others too, especially if provoked. Furthermore, he could very easily be motivated to cause more harm to our family and network of friends if given the chance to leave prison at an early age.
You can further help our family bring the murderer to justice and keep the community safe by making a simple phone call. Please feel free to use the two sample scripts provided below.
Residents of San Francisco:
1) Call the District Attorney’s office in San Francisco. The head DA is George Gascon. The number to call is
(415) 553-1754
2) Say:
“Hello, my name is ______. I am a ___(profession/parent/student)____in ___(city)___. I am a (voting) resident of San Francisco and friend of the Rashawn Williams family. I am calling to let you know how deeply concerned I was to learn that only one suspect has been caught so far. Furthermore, I am completely disheartened to know that the one person in custody is only being charged as a juvenile. This is shocking because if convicted, the murderer would be free by the time he is 23 years old. I therefore stand behind the Rashawn Williams family in their desire to find justice, and respectfully urge you do whatever you can to charge the two murderers as adults. It is my understanding that there is currently a case in San Jose, California, where the person in custody is 14 years old and is being charged as an adult. I would find great comfort in knowing that our elected officials are willing to do whatever they can to keep our community safe and free of criminals like these. I therefore ask you to take this phone call into consideration, and join us in support of the Rashawn Williams family. Thank you. Good bye.”
Non-residents of San Francisco:
1) Call the District Attorney’s office in San Francisco. The head DA is George Gascon. The number to call is
(415) 553-1754
2) Say:
“Hello, my name is ______ and I am a ___(profession/parent/student)____in ___(city)___. I am a friend of the Rashawn Williams family. I am calling to let you know how deeply concerned I was to learn that only one suspect has been caught so far. Furthermore, I am completely disheartened to know that the one person in custody is only being charged as a juvenile. This is shocking because if convicted, the murderer would be free by the time he is 23 years old. I therefore stand behind the Rashawn Williams family in their desire to find justice, and respectfully urge you do whatever you can to charge the two murderers as adults. It is my understanding that there is currently a case in San Jose, California, where the person in custody is 14 years old and is being charged as an adult. I would find great comfort in knowing that the elected officials of San Francisco are willing to do whatever they can to keep the San Francisco community safe and free of criminals like these. I therefore ask you to take this phone call into consideration, and join us in support of the Rashawn Williams family. Thank you. Good bye.”
Thank you again, dear friends, for helping us try to get justice for Rashawn. We will be eternally grateful for your support.
~The Rashawn Williams family
Justice for Rashawn Williams 