A Washington, D.C. teenager has been charged with second-degree murder while armed in the 2025 shooting death of 14-year-old Zytina Mason-Brown, more than a year after her death was initially described to police as accidental.
What Happened
Officers responded to a report of a gunshot victim on May 21, 2025, and found Mason-Brown unconscious and suffering from a critical gunshot wound; she was pronounced dead at the scene. At the time, a female witness and a 15-year-old boy who was present told police the boy had taken his uncle’s gun and the group was filming TikTok videos with it when Mason-Brown was shot.
Why the Case Reopened as a Homicide
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later determined the gunshot wound could not have been self-inflicted, reclassifying the case as a homicide. A detective testified that once the final autopsy report came back, it showed someone else had shot Mason-Brown, identifying the boy who had been present, now 17, as the shooter.
Where the Case Stands
The teen, who has not been publicly named because he was a minor at the time of the shooting, was initially arrested only on a firearm possession charge; the female witness was separately arrested for lying to police. He now faces the murder charge nearly a year after the original incident, and the case is moving forward in court.
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