originally by: Workers World 
published: 2 September 2012

Nicholas Naquan Heyward Jr. was just 13 years old when he was killed by “Robocop” Brian George on Sept. 27, 1994. Nicholas, an honor student at Nathan Hale Middle School, was playing in a stairwell at the Gowanus Houses where he lived in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The 18th annual Nicholas Heyward Jr. Day of Remembrance was held on Aug. 25. The next day Nicholas would have been 31.

People gathered in Nicholas Naquan Heyward Jr. Park, next to the Gowanus Houses. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hines refused to even present a case to the grand jury against the shooter cop. But the people in the neighborhood forced the Parks Department to rename their park after their young hero.

Nicholas Heyward Sr. told people, “A child is supposed to bury his parents. The parents aren’t supposed to bury their child.”

Heyward has never stopped fighting for justice since his son was killed. He’s been a mainstay of Parents Against Police Brutality, which helped build the Day of Remembrance along with the Nicholas Naquan Heyward Jr. Memorial Foundation.

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