Many children at the Broadway Boys & Girls Club have lost friends and family to gun violence, including a 15-year-old, Emanuel Heard. “My friend just died yesterday from gun violence,” he said after his pal, a 16-year-old Dyshaun T. Atkins, lost his life from getting shot on Thursday night in East Cleveland. Atkins was a football player and lived in the Garden Valley neighborhood.

The tragic incident happened around 6:55 p.m. on East 49th Street in Cleveland’s East Side, where two teenagers were gunned down. A 15-year-old whose name hasn’t been released was taken to the Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, and the other was Atkins, who was rushed to MetroHealth but was pronounced dead. The incident is still under investigation.

For Emanuel Heard, the loss is deeply personal. “He was just, overall, a good friend, he was always there for me, and we used to talk a lot. So, it’s just a little traumatic for me, because I didn’t expect to deal with something like this so soon, especially with it being a person so close to me die like that,” said Heard. He isn’t old enough to drive yet, but already speaks with the weariness of someone who has seen too much. “I’ve been down, but I’ve been trying to stay up and [this] event like today helped me… try to keep my spirits up a little bit.”

Atkins’ family, too, is devastated. His aunt, Cyerha White, who would lovingly call him Shaun, started a GoFundMe to help Atkins’ parents, Ryan and Rose, give him a final farewell with dignity and respect while grieving the big dreams the young lad would chase with the help of his coaches.

Leenetta Robinson, a coach at Garden Valley, would often tease the boy for being short for a football player, but Atkins would always laugh at it. He would sometimes call her on the phone and ask, ‘Can you tell Coach C to pick me up for practice?’ so enthusiastically that he would forget to even say hi first…

He was actively chasing his goals, still becoming who he was meant to be. No wonder the incident left community leader Devin Nelson heartbroken. He took to Instagram on July 12 and wrote: “Yesterday was gut-wrenching and emotionally taxing. While we were at practice, we noticed a lot of commotion and a heavy police presence. A few coaches went to observe the situation and assess the danger, and that’s when we learned a former player had been shot. This young man tragically succumbed to his injuries before reaching the trauma center.

“He was a kid who lit up every room he entered, always with a big, bright smile that was truly contagious. I honestly can’t recall a day I saw or interacted with Atkins when he didn’t make me smile! This is, unfortunately, the harsh reality our youth confronts every time they step outside. I just can’t believe my young dude is gone. 

“Rest easy, Atkins. In your short 16 years on 🌍, you absolutely made your mark, and you were so loved! The whole neighborhood was out, concerned and sending prayers that you’d make it. But God had other plans, and He doesn’t make mistakes. Long Live Chicken!!! Love you kid!! 💔😓😢🕊️”

It wasn’t just grief. It was shock and worse—familiarity. Because Dyshaun’s story isn’t an outlier in Cleveland. It’s a pattern.

The Cleveland community comes together to honor Dyshaun T. Atkins

Just blocks from where Atkins took his last breath, the Broadway Boys & Girls Club hosted an event not just to mourn, but to fight back. “Stop the Violence” was their slogan as they fought towards giving their community kids the safe life they deserve.

Assistant Club Director Bee Puthoff stood surrounded by kids and grief and said it plain: “We’ve lost a couple members throughout the years… so it just means a lot that we create a safe space.”

And Executive Director of Cleveland Peacemakers, Myesha Watkins, didn’t sugarcoat the stats as she revealed that the number one cause of premature death in the U.S. for kids was gun violence. “I can’t even understand how a seven or a 10-year-old is coping that his or her friend is no longer here, and he hasn’t lived enough to understand this is a part of life. But it shouldn’t be at that age.”

Many from Cleveland also took to social media and wrote:

• “Yall make sure yall are checking on your kids mental… So many of them are losing their friends left and right. To be that young and that hurt.”
• “This is too much trauma for one community. Prayers for his family, friends, and community.”

RIP, Dyshaun T. Atkins. His services will be held in Calhoun Funeral Home’s Bedford Heights location on July 31.