According to the Baltimore Sun, Juan Grant was shot to death in Baltimore on Saturday night following a car accident.
The 33-year-old was Freddie Gray's brother-in-law, best friend and biggest advocate after Gray's 2015 death. He became a charismatic leader of the protest movement that grew after it was revealed that Gray died from injuries suffered while he was in police custody.
Damn… Rest in Power Juan Grant… A close friend of Freddie Gray and co-organizer of many initial #BaltimoreUprising protests, was killed in a shooting earlier tonight in West Baltimore… our thoughts are with his family and friends… #LongLiveJuan
pic.twitter.com/VJ2xvDJY2a— Baltimore BLOC (@BmoreBloc) April 28, 2019
Grant's grandmother, Frederina, was inconsolable as she spoke of her grandson and mourned the loss of another family member. Grant's mother, Frederina's daughter, was shot to death in 2003.
“The family has suffered a great loss. If you love your family, hold onto them,” she told the Sun. “He didn’t deserve what he got. He didn’t deserve that at all.”
Police told Frederina that Grant was driving his cousin home around 8 p.m. on Saturday when his Cadillac ran into someone on a dirt bike in Baltimore.
He got out of the car and was immediately shot by whoever was on the motorbike. Grant was taken to a hospital but died from gunshot wounds to the head.
“I don’t know whether it was to confront this person or to see if this person was OK. Whoever it was just shot him,” Frederina said.
Grant leaves behind a girlfriend and a 2-year-old son.
Grant became a significant force in Baltimore after Gray's death. He and Gray were very close and considered each other brothers-in-law because Grant's brother had a child with Gray's twin sister. Grant returned to the police station daily after Gray was killed, demanding more information about his friend.
None of the officers implicated in Gray's death were ever convicted. The Department of Justice also decided not to prosecute them in 2017.
Juan Grant, brother-in-law of #FreddieGray has been protesting since the very beginning. "This is unbelievable." pic.twitter.com/ghwWGFaISO
— Colin Campbell (@cmcampbell6) May 2, 2015
“He was trying to make a difference in his own way,” said Frederina in her interview with The Sun.
“He was determined that he was going to march and have people march with him to find out what happened.”
Now, check these out:
Baltimore system decides no one killed Freddie Gray, all charges dropped against officers
The Justice Department Fails Us Again, Will Not Prosecute Officers Involved In Freddie Gray Case
