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Family To Mark Anniversary Of Teenager's Death

By Jenna Carlesso

May 06, 2011

The family of Jashon Bryant, who was 18 when he was fatally shot by a city police detective, will gather Saturday to mark the sixth anniversary of his death.

On May 7, 2005, Det. Robert Lawlor shot Bryant during the course of a police investigation in the city's North End.

Lawlor told investigators that he had seen Bryant with a gun and thought that Bryant was reaching for it when he approached a car carrying Bryant and his friend, Brandon Henry. No gun was ever found.

Henry was shot in the chest but survived. A jury acquitted Lawlor of manslaughter and assault charges in December 2009. Lawlor retired from the force.

Family members will gather at Sanford and Main streets at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and march down Main Street to the Spring Grove Cemetery, where Bryant is buried. A memorial service will follow at Bryant's gravesite. The march and memorial are open to the public, family members said.

During the memorial service, relatives will recite prayers, sing and release balloons, said Cynthia Bryant, Jashon Bryant's mother.

She and other family members have marked the anniversary every year with a memorial, she said.

"We have a pretty good crowd every year," Cynthia Brown said. "We miss him and we love him."