Daitwon Young murder: Killers still wanted decade after shooting teen inside his home

KILLERS WANTED IN LAKEWOOD -- It was February 6th, 2004, and a laid back Friday afternoon for 19 year old Daitwon Young. He was hanging out with his friend on the couch playing video games when two men kicked in their apartment door. “There’s a brief verbal exchange and two shots were fired,” recalls Lakewood Police Chief Mike Zaro recalls. He was the detective assigned to the case. "One of the shots hit Daitwon and killed him. Investigators have no idea what the motive was. Daitwon had no criminal history. To our knowledge, he wasn’t involved in anything, any bad activities or illegal activities that would have drawn this kind of activity.”

Chief Zaro says the two suspects shouted something at the men before opening fire. “People kicking the door in yelled ‘now what?’ shouted some profanities and then fired the shots,” Zaro explained. In an interview several years ago with Daitwon’s sister, Tamika, she told us that she believes the target was the man sitting next to her brother. “They basically killed the wrong person. He had nothing to do with it. I mean nothing at all," she said. Chief Zaro adds, “It wasn’t a random apartment, I don’t believe. There was time for whoever kicked the door in to turn around and just run if they did get the wrong apartment. So I do believe they intended to kick the door in on that apartment and whether it was Daitwon or the person sitting next to him, that’s who they were targeting.” The gun used in the murder was found at the apartment complex, but police were unable to recover any fingerprints. They need information from someone who knows the two suspects, and can get justice for an innocent teenage boy. “We owe it to Daitwon who was just sitting on the couch, playing video games  in his own residence. We owe it to him to find out who did it,” Zaro said. The suspects are both described as black men, 20 to 30 years old, 5'7", with medium builds and wearing dark clothes. Anyone with information is asked to call an anonymous tip into: CRIME STOPPERS: 1-800-222-TIPS You must call the Crime Stoppers hotline with your tip to be eligible to receive a cash reward for information leading to a fugitive’s arrest. CLICK HERE for information on how to TEXT A TIP to Crime Stoppers.