A Pennsylvania mother who lost her youngest son in a 2023 mass shooting is now preparing for another painful court fight — this time as her older son heads to trial on murder-related charges tied to a different mass shooting.
Nyshyia Thomas’ 15-year-old son, DaJuan Brown, was one of five people killed in a seemingly random attack in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Southwest Philadelphia in July 2023. Police said several others were wounded, and that victims were either on the street or inside vehicles when gunfire erupted, according to prior reporting.
Thomas told NBC News after the shooting that DaJuan was trying to help a wounded 13-year-old friend when he was hit.
“He was just trying to get his friend help not knowing that bullets don’t have no name,” she said in 2023.
The shooter, Kimbrady Carriker, later pleaded guilty to five counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder in connection with the attack, 6abc reported, citing prosecutors. He was sentenced in December 2025 to 37.5 to 75 years in prison, according to the outlet.
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Now, Thomas is dealing with tragedy from another angle. Her 21-year-old son, Daquan Brown, is set to go on trial this week on murder and attempted murder charges connected to a July 2025 mass shooting in the Grays Ferry neighborhood.
In an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer published Jan. 13, Thomas described the emotional toll gun violence has taken on her family — both as a grieving mother and as the parent of someone accused.
“From being on both sides of this, it’s overwhelming, it’s unfair,” she said, according to the newspaper. “But I understand.”
Philadelphia police previously said that three men between 19 and 24 were killed and nine others were wounded in the 2025 shooting, according to FOX 29, NBC 10 and 6abc.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel told CBS News at the time that roughly 40 people were present when the shooting happened and that investigators recovered dozens of shell casings from the scene.
Authorities believe the incident started with one person firing a shot — possibly into the air — followed by what was described as “contagious gunfire,” FOX 29 reported.
According to The Inquirer, four men, including Daquan, have been charged with murder and other offenses in connection with the shooting. Thomas argues her son should not face multiple counts, saying he fired only two shots in self-defense and that investigators are still working to determine whether any of his shots struck and killed anyone.
She acknowledged the difficulty of defending any loss of life, and told the outlet her son obtained a gun for protection after his younger brother was killed.
“I lost one son to gun violence,” Thomas told The Inquirer. “I’ll be damned if I let the system take my other one from me.”
