‘It’s tragic:’ Mentor of murdered Baltimore teen tried to protect him – CBS Baltimore

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Corey Brandon took 15-year-old Braylon Gannon under his wing, gave him a job and mentored him at his tire shop in West Baltimore. He hired Gannon last summer at the request of Braylon’s mother, a friend since childhood.

“She brought him over here to me and said, ‘Corey, take my son to work, keep him off the street,'” Brandon told WJZ investigator Mike Hellgren.

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Braylon was supposed to be at work last Saturday morning. But just a few hours earlier, he was shot multiple times in the head.

A passer-by found him in an alley on the 2400 block of West Lafayette Avenue, less than a mile from the tire store. If so, there is now a $8,000 reward.

“It was heartbreaking because he’s a good boy who doesn’t work on the streets. Naturally, when I found that out, it really hit me. It stung me. It was something that hurt me because I looked at him like one of my grandchildren,” Brandon said. “Someone so young had their whole life ahead of them, it’s tragic. The streets are eating up our young lads. Age doesn’t matter to them now. There is so much young violence. children-on-children over nothing. It is sad.”

New $8,000 reward for information on the killing of 15-year-old Braylon Gannon in West Baltimore over the weekend. Our latest story with new details on the crime @wjz pic.twitter.com/5d78NQ5TVa

— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) March 30, 2022

WJZ’s investigation found it took four hours and 25 minutes for Gannon to be shot and for police to find him.

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A source said the shooting was caught on camera and a person walking with the teenager fell back before opening fire. Then another person who was hiding shot Gannon again as he was on the ground.

“He didn’t deserve what happened to him,” Brandon said. “He put a smile on everyone’s face. Never disrespectful. None of them. Good kid,” Brandon recalled.

He said Gannon was your typical teenager. “When we were busy he would find a way to get out and pick up the phone. When I look for him, he’s in the bathroom,” Brandon said, laughing. “‘Come on Braylon, stop it boy!’ But he was really a hard worker. He’s learned a lot. He will be missed.”

And his mother lost her only child. “How can you figure that out? only son. It’s just him and her. It crushes her. It hurts. It was her only son.”

It comes as the city sees a spike in shootings. So far this year, nearly 250 people have been shot dead and the police department has failed more than 350 officers.

Three injured in shooting near Johns Hopkins hospital; Inspector says criminals fear no consequences @wjz

— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) March 31, 2022

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