Paris Brown

Paris DeShawn Brown — known to friends as “Paco” — was a young man from Southeast Washington, D.C., whose brief life touched people through creativity and community. At 19 he was a student, attending Thurgood Marshall Academy, where he was still finding his path and exploring his interests. Those who knew him recalled that he shared his writing, poetry and music with close friends; he released a mixtape called “Dreams of Gold,” a sign of the ambitions and voice he was developing.

Paris lived in the Skyland area of Southeast D.C., and he was described by acquaintances as someone who talked with neighborhood youth about life and who expressed himself through art. That creative impulse — writing, poetry and music — is one of the clearest, verified threads in the public record and helps us remember him as more than a date on a page: a young artist with ideas and a future he hoped to build.

On the evening of January 10, 2018, Paris’s life ended far too soon. His death was reported by the Metropolitan Police Department and covered in local reporting; the loss resonated with classmates, teachers and neighbors who recalled a young person with potential and a voice. While the public documentation focuses on the facts surrounding that night, friends’ recollections and local reporting emphasize his humanity — his creative work, his connections in school, and the ways he related to those around him.

Though many details of his private life remain respectfully out of the public record, the verified pieces that are available point to a young man striving to make something of his talent. Remembering Paris means holding those fragments — the music he made, the poems and writings he shared, the role he played among friends — as evidence that his life had meaning beyond the manner of his death. Those who cared for him and those touched by his work continue to grieve a life of promise lost too early.