15-year-old's shooting death devastates family as Milwaukee grapples with gun violence against children

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The grandmother of 15-year-old homicide victim Jason Eggars consoles two of Jason's younger brothers, Nivaire, 13, and Jivyon, 10, at a vigil Saturday night outside the family's home. A family friend holds the boys' baby brother Shawn.

Jason Eggars' life shouldn't have ended like this.

Shot to death in a dirty alley, surrounded by garbage and discarded mattresses.

He was 15 years old — a freshman at North Division High School.

And his three little brothers — Nivaire, 13, Jivyon, 10, and baby Shawn — shouldn't have to mourn Jason's untimely death.

"I can't live without him," Jivyon wailed at a vigil Saturday to remember Jason as his grandmother held him tightly.

Jason's family identified him as one of two teens who died in shootings Friday in Milwaukee. He was shot to death about 6:30 a.m. in the 2600 block of North 17th Street. The circumstances were under investigation.

Then, about a mile and a half away, a 17-year-old boy died in a shooting about 8 p.m. in the 3200 block of North 5th Street. Police arrived to find the teen had died. They had not yet identified him Saturday evening.

Available details about both shootings were limited. Police asked anyone with information to call (414) 935-7360 or Milwaukee Crime Stoppers at (414) 224-TIPS.

A family member holds up a collage of photos of Jason Eggars, 15, at a vigil in his honor Saturday night in Milwaukee. Jason died Friday morning in a shooting at North 17th and West Center streets.

A crowd gathered Saturday evening outside Jason's family home at North 23rd and West Center Streets to decry the violence that took Jason from their lives.

"Fix it! Fix it!" shouted Lisa Collins, Jason's aunt.

"It's just going on and on and on and on. And it never stops," Collins said. "We're losing too many people."

Police did not initially release the age of the person killed Friday morning, calling him only a "male victim."

"He's a child, he's a baby. He's 15 years old," Collins said.

Jason was the "life of the party" and loved to rap, sing and dance, his family said.

The women gathered outside the home said they did not know what led up to Jason's death or who might've killed him, and they called for the person who shot Jason to come forward. Justice would lead to closure, they said.

"We can have closure, but we'll live with this for the rest of our lives," said Gwen Williamson. She is Jason's aunt and lost her own father and brother in homicides.

The crowd marched down Center Street from the family home to North 17th Street, where the shooting took place, blocking traffic as they walked. After a prayer there, they returned to the home to release balloons in his memory.

Gwen Williamson, Jason Eggars' aunt, holds his brother Jivyon, 10, as his brother Nivaire, 13, looks on at a vigil for Jason on Saturday night in Milwaukee. Lisa Collins, another of Jason's aunts, is on the right in the Green Bay Packers hat. "He's a child, he's a baby," Collins said of Jason, who died Friday at age 15.

Reggie Moore, the director of the city's Office of Violence Prevention, said in a statement that his office offers its "full and sincere support" to everyone impacted by gun violence.

"This young man deserved to live and grow up in peace," his statement reads in part. "We remain committed to continuing to do everything possible to ensure that no other family has to experience this type of preventable tragedy."

He also called the spate of violence against children "senseless" and "disheartening."

Jason's family home is one block away from North 22nd and West Center streets, where two young sisters, ages 4 and 6, died this October when they were struck in a crosswalk by a driver who had swerved around several vehicles stopped at a red light.

The Friday shooting deaths of the two teens also follow the shooting of an 8-year-old Wednesday in the 5800 block of West Helena Street. The child was expected to survive, and police arrested a 21-year-old man on suspicion of recklessly endangering safety.

In mid-November, a 13-year-old suffered gunshot wounds that were not life-threatening after a road rage incident involving the teen's father. Shots were fired at the vehicle, striking the boy, police said.

And in July, 3-year-old Brooklyn Harris died when a suspect fired into her mother's car in a road rage incident.

A month earlier, a 5-year-old boy was shot and killed in the 3200 block of North 45th Street. Neighbors told reporters the boy picked up a gun and accidentally shot himself.

Also in June, a 5-year-old from Kenosha died from gunshot wounds after he was dropped off at Froedtert South Kenosha Medical Center.

Jason's family created a GoFundMe page seeking donations to plan his funeral.

Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.