Jafar Brooks, Steven Eason honored posthumously by Central Catholic High School

THE FAMILIES OF JAFAR BROOKS AND STEVEN EASON WERE HONORED DURING CENTRAL’S GRADUATION CEREMONY, MAY 24. (PHOTO BY BRIAN COOK SR.) Central Catholic High School honored the lives of two of its former students who were set to graduate in 2024, but whose lives were cut short due to gun violence. The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned exclusively that the families of Jafar Brooks and Steven Eason were recognized on the same Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall stage that the two teens were set to walk across to receive their high school diplomas as part of the Class of 2024. Brooks died in December 2020 following a shooting in Penn Hills. Brooks was 15 years old. Eason died in September 2021 following a shooting at a haunted hayride in North Versailles. Eason, too, was 15. STEVEN EASON, JAFAR BROOKS In the days following their deaths, everyone who was publicly interviewed about the two teens had nothing but good things to say about them. A grandfather of Brooks, Rashad Byrdsong with the Community Empowerment Association in Homewood, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that “Jafar wrestled, he ran track, played baseball, played football — he was an overall good kid. He had a...