SECOND-YEAR ANNIVERSARY VIGIL FOR RASHAWN BRAZELL

Gay City News: 2/8/07

The family and friends of Rashawn Brazell, a 19-year-old gay man from Bushwick, Brooklyn, whose dismembered body parts turned up shortly after his disappearance in February 2005, will hold a vigil on February 17 at 7 p.m. The vigil will take place at the intersection of Nostrand and Fulton Avenues in Brooklyn.

According to Police Officer Thomas Verni, the NYPD LGBT community liaison, detectives from Brooklyn North Homicide were meeting as Gay City News went to press to evaluate the status of the case, and may hold a press conference soon. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Brazell's killers, and the NYPD has added an additional $12,000 to that amount for a total of $22,000. Anyone with information should contact 1-800-577-TIPS and reference Crime Stoppers Poster BK-768.

A Rashawn Brazell Memorial Fund has been set up to support the study of violence against queer people of African descent. For more information, visit http://www.rashawnbrazell.com.