Art show honors slain teen

Boys and Girls Club will benefit

RALEIGH -- When 14-year-old Damian Dunn was fatally shot last month, his death struck a chord that resonated far beyond the inner-city community where he lived and died.

This month, the fourth annual "Downtown Appetite for Art" at Marbles Museum will honor Damian. The event's featured artist, Kristen Hackett, painted a portrait of Damian, titled "Drummer Boy" because of his participation in the Helping Hands Mission Marching Band. The acrylic portrait will be the featured work of the event and sold during its auction.

The event on July 26 is sponsored by the Historic Glenwood-Brooklyn Neighborhood Association, which uses money raised by the auction to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Wake County.

"When we found out about Damian, it just brought it home to all of us why events like this matter to help kids like Damian," said Jan Johnston, an executive with IBM and chairperson of the event.

Damian, who lived at 1039 Walnut St. with his parents and younger siblings, suffered a gunshot wound to the head June 13. He died during emergency surgery at WakeMed in Raleigh. His mother, Leslie Engquist, was also at the hospital, recovering from having her leg amputated.

According to a search warrant made public Wednesday, Damian was shot by another teen who was playing with a small pistol. Damian was visiting an apartment at 1028 Walnut St. while his mother underwent surgery. His father, David Dunn, was also at the hospital by his wife's side.

Gun play blamed

Witnesses told police that a juvenile was playing with a small pistol and began pointing the weapon at other people in the apartment. The gun went off and struck Damian, according to the warrant.

Witnesses told police that the person with the gun fled the apartment, the warrant said.

Police arrested Eboni Dominique Mitchell, 18, of Garner the night of the shooting and charged her with being an accessory after the fact to involuntary manslaughter. Police have not disclosed the role she played in the incident.

On June 19, the day before Damian was buried, police arrested another teen, Fruikwan Dion Rashard Stewart, 18, charging him with involuntary manslaughter and possession of a firearm by a felon. Stewart remained in custody Thursday in lieu of $100,000 bail, a jail spokesman said.

Damian was a student at West Cary Middle School, where he played football. He had spent the past several years as a tenor drummer with the Helping Hand Mission Marching Band and was a member of the Boys and Girls Club, where he was training to become a junior staff member. Staffers at the club said Damian was the last child to leave the building the day he was shot because he helped clean up the gym.

"One hour before his death, he was safe at the Boys Club," Johnston said. "Hopefully, the hours he spent there provided him some joy and happiness."

Johnston said Hackett, who is art director of the Brentwood Boys and Girls Club and the Girls Club on Raleigh Boulevard, had already been asked to be the featured artist for this year's art auction.

"It just so happened that this year's artist works with the Boys and Girls Clubs," Johnston said. "She said she wanted to paint a portrait of Damian for this event. It hit all of us really."