*There is sad news to report.
MarShawn McCarrel II, a 23-year-old Black Lives Matter activist, has committed suicide. According to the New York Daily News, McCarrel took his own life Monday night (Feb. 8) when he fatally shot himself in Ohio Statehouse building in Columbus.
Just hours before his body was found near the Statehouse, McCarrel posted the following message on his Facebook page about 3 p.m.:
“My demons won today. I’m sorry.”
Speaking with The Columbus Dispatch, Lt. Craig Cvetan of the State Highway Patrol revealed that no one witnessed the shooting. In addition, McCarrel was pronounced dead at the scene.
In addition to Facebook, McCarrel expressed himself on Twitter as he last tweet read: “Let the record show that I pissed on the state house before I left.”
McCarrel’s impact was felt in Ohio and around the nation with his recent work with Black Lives Matter in helping to organize protests in the state after a Missouri cop shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in 2014. McCarrel’s work with Black Lives Matter was coupled with his efforts to help the homeless in Ohio via Feed the Streets, a project launched by Pursuing Our Dreams, a youth mentorship program he founded.
McCarrel’s efforts were recognized by Radio One, which honored him as one of its Hometown Champions earlier this year. On its Facebook page, Pursuing Our Dreams revealed that the award, which is given to community activists and volunteers enabled McCarrel to travel to California to attend the NAACP’s Image Awards on Friday (Feb. 5).
Accompanying the community organizer to the annual event was his mother, Leatha Wellington, who told the Dispatch that McCarrel put his causes before himself.
Wellington, along with McCarrel’s twin brother MarQuan later shared with the publication their thoughts on McCarrel as they suspect the never-ending and disturbing nature of his activism and charity work left him mentally and physically exhausted in a way they didn’t realize.
“He impacted so many people, touched so many lives,” Wellington shared with the Dispatch.
“He was just so creative,” MarQuan stated. “He just wanted to serve people.”
A nomination page for the Hometown Champions Award provided further details about McCarrel, noting that he was homeless for three months after graduating from high school. That experience, according to the nomination page, inspired McCarrel to help others.
“He is selfless and will give his last in order to make sure others don’t go without. MarShawn has come so far in life and has inspired so many people to help others,” the nomination page read.
“When MarShawn got back on his feet, he felt the need to give back because so many people helped him when he was down. MarShawn stresses the importance of having conversations with the people we feed because they’ll get hungry in 2 hours but a good conversation will carry them over for a lifetime.”
