CLEVELAND — A community remembers a 14-year-old after Cleveland Police said he was accidentally shot and killed. A balloon release took place on Friday outside Scranton Elementary School, where Dewayde Stewart had just completed eighth grade.
The shooting happened Tuesday at around 9:30 p.m. near the intersection of Union and Broadway avenues on the edge of Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhoods. Police said Dewayde was riding in the passenger seat with a 17-year-old sitting in the backseat. That 17-year-old had a gun, which went off, hitting Dewayde and killing him. The 17-year-old, along with the driver, then flagged down nearby patrols after throwing the gun out of the car.
Maria Bohuslawsky taught Dewayde, whom she called an ideal student, when he was in the 5th grade and attended Northeast Ohio College Preparatory School.
"He was a fun-loving, just hilarious student," she said. "He made me smile and laugh every single day. Once you met him and you saw that smile, that was something that was seared into your memory and into your heart forever."
Bohuslawsky told News 5 she couldn’t forget Dewayde even if she wanted to; she said the teen would often grab her phone in class and take all sorts of photos.
"I'd find [my phone[ on my desk and I'd scroll for 30 seconds and I'm glad I still have those photos still," she said. "He was one [student] I will remember forever."
Police said the 17-year-old responsible was taken into custody and was booked at the juvenile detention center. Their name has not been released.
