Kentucky teen lauded for defending girl from sexual harassment fatally shot

Da’Jon Anthony Hayes-Burr, shot by another teenager, had stopped a 45-year-old man from harassing a 12-year-old girl

Kentucky ’s largest city is mourning the recent shooting death of a teenage boy who had earned a municipal commendation months earlier for defending a young girl from sexual harassment – and survived being stabbed in the process.

Da’Jon Anthony Hayes-Burr, 15, was shot on Saturday night in Louisville’s Shawnee neighborhood, according to authorities there. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital, and police booked a 14-year-old on a count of murder, as the Louisville news outlet WAVE first reported .

Police neither named the arrested teen because of the suspect’s age nor released a possible motive in the killing, saying it remained under investigation. But after the local coroner’s office identified Hayes-Burr as the victim in the case, tributes poured in for the boy, who in April had made headlines for protecting a preteen girl from being sexually harassed by a man more than three times her age.

As the girl’s mother recounted to the Louisville news outlet WLKY , she and her 12-year-old daughter were leaving a fireworks show when she heard a man direct a sexual comment toward the child.

Kristyn Stasel told the man that her daughter was 12, she said to the station. Stasel recalled him rejoining, “Never too young to have some fun,” so she began screaming for help and yelling, “Pedophile! Pedophile!”

Hayes-Burr heard Stasel’s cries and – with other teenage boys – confronted the man, who was later identified as 45-year-old Vasilis Sakellardis, WLKY reported.

Sakellardis allegedly tried to charge Stasel but was thrown to the ground by Hayes-Burr and the other boys. A tussle ensued while Stasel and her daughter kept walking, and Sakellardis evidently stabbed Hayes-Burr before police reportedly tackled the attacker and arrested him.

Hayes-Burr later spoke to the Louisville news outlet WHAS after spending one night at a hospital. He said to the station that he never imagined being put in a position like that – but stepped in after realizing “a lot of grown men around … weren’t going to do [anything]”.

“So, we had to do something,” Hayes-Burr said.

Stasel told WHAS that Hayes-Burr and the others who faced Sakellardis “were raised right”. The Louisville city council subsequently awarded Hayes-Burr a proclamation, saying he demonstrated “extraordinary courage, compassion and selflessness” – as well as “valor far beyond his years” by intervening on behalf of Stasel.

Andy Beshear, the Kentucky governor, in May sent Hayes-Burr a letter thanking him for his courage and selflessness – a missive which included a ceremonial challenge coin recognizing the teen’s bravery.

In a statement on Monday addressing Hayes-Burr’s death, Beshear said he and his wife, Britainy, “are praying for Da’Jon’s family and all those affected by this tragedy”.

“Da’Jon was a child of God whose life was taken far too soon, and his bravery and selflessness will leave a lasting impact on the Louisville community” and all of Kentucky .

A separate statement from Crystal Bast, a Louisville council member, said she could not help ruminating “about the future this young man should have had”.

“I can’t stop thinking about … the life he should have lived [and] the difference he could have continued making in this world,” Bast said of Hayes-Burr, who was preparing to enter his sophomore year in high school. “We have babies out here killing babies. Something has to change.”

Attempts to contact Stasel on Monday were unsuccessful. But, on her social media, she shared a news story of Hayes-Burr’s killing and shared a link to an online fundraiser dedicated to assisting his mother, Lakeita.

Since 2020, firearms are the leading cause of death for children and adolescents in the US between the ages of one and 19, ahead of car accidents and poisoning, according to researchers .

A statement attributed to Hayes-Burr’s family and reported on by WAVE called his death “tragic and senseless”.

The statement also asked the public “to honor Da’Jone’s memory by choosing kindness, standing up for others, and helping us put an end to the senseless violence that continues to take the lives of our young people”.

“Da’Jon will always be remembered as a hero, a loving son, a cherished family member and a young man whose courage will never be forgotten,” the statement said.