The family of 14-year-old Zytina Mason-Brown, a Washington, D.C., teen whose death was first treated by police as an accidental self-inflicted shooting, says a recent arrest has brought some long-awaited relief after months of pushing back against the idea that she caused her own death.
D.C. police have arrested a 17-year-old boy in connection with Mason-Brown’s fatal shooting. Investigators say the teenage suspect was inside the apartment when the gunfire that killed her occurred.
“I’m feeling — I don’t want to say happy because it’s not a joyous occasion, I just wish we didn’t have to go through this — but I’m feeling satisfied that D.C. police did apprehend the suspect,” Mason-Brown’s grandmother, Michelle Brown, told FOX5 DC. “And they did their job on this one.”
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Mason-Brown, an eighth-grade student with ambitions of becoming both a beautician and a real estate agent, was killed on May 21, 2025. (Handout via FOX5 DC WTTG)
For Mason-Brown’s loved ones, the arrest represents a significant development in a case they say never made sense from the start.
Mason-Brown was fatally shot on May 21, 2025, inside an apartment at the Benning Courts Pentacle complex in the 1700 block of Benning Road Northeast, near Hechinger Mall. The eighth grader had been looking ahead to a future that included beauty work and real estate, according to her family.
At first, authorities described the shooting as accidental, saying the teen appeared to have shot herself while filming a video for social media.
A D.C. Metropolitan Police vehicle is seen along the intersection of 14th St. NW and U St. in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 14, 2025. (Alex Wroblewski / AFP via Getty Images)
Her family did not believe that account.
Months after the shooting, the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner officially ruled Mason-Brown’s death a homicide in August 2025.
“We knew that Zytina did not kill herself,” her aunt Dawna Cooke told FOX5DC. “And I really want to thank the Metropolitan Police Department for fighting so hard to come to the conclusion and get the suspect in custody.”
The family thanked police for continuing its investigation into the shooting and coming to a conclusion that could lead to justice for the 14-year-old girl. (Getty Images, File)
Details about the 17-year-old suspect’s identity and upcoming court appearances have not been made public because of juvenile privacy laws.
