Braylen Jackson was 14 and a freshman at Rock Hill High School when he died from a single gunshot on the afternoon of September 25, 2025, in an apartment on Springsteen Road in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He had been with a friend at about 1 p.m. when the shot was fired. Authorities concluded the death was not intentional but the result of reckless handling of a firearm.

Investigators say a 15-year-old friend had taken a Glock from an unlocked car in the apartment complex parking lot the night before and was manipulating the weapon the next day when it discharged, striking Braylen. The teenager initially told police Braylen had shot himself, but a witness contradicted that account. The 15-year-old was taken into custody by the Department of Juvenile Justice and charged with involuntary manslaughter, breaking into a motor vehicle, possession of a stolen gun, and illegal possession of a handgun by a minor.

Prosecutors later described the youth as showing off the stolen weapon and pulling the magazine in and out before the fatal shot. Braylen’s mother and grandmother publicly expressed forgiveness during court. Anyone who knew Braylen or was in that Springsteen Road apartment complex on September 25 who can add information is asked to come forward.