Jashon Bryant's family and friends gathered around a birthday cake on Wednesday night and sang, "Happy Birthday," amid smiles and laughter. It would have been Jashon's 23rd birthday.
They celebrate every year, even though Bryant died in 2005 when he was shot by a Hartford police officer.
"Actually, we celebrate every year, just because things didn't go the way they should have doesn't mean we weren't going to celebrate his birthday," Bryant's sister, Shirin, said.
The festive party marks a big change from the emotions felt 24 hours earlier, when an all-white jury acquitted retired Hartford Police officer Robert Lawlor of manslaughter in Bryant's death.
"It was a jury with all his people," Shirin Bryant said. "Not saying we have an issue with anybody, but it wasn't nobody from the inner city, no minorities, Chinese, Black, Jamaican, nothing."
Lawlor shot Bryant, 18, in the head in May 2005 as the car Bryant was a passenger in was fleeing from police.
Lawlor claimed he saw Bryant with a gun but no gun was ever found.
After the verdict, Bryant’s family asked Lawlor why he hadn't apologized.
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"Being sorry, to me, my own personal belief, would mean admitting some type of wrong doing. I did nothing wrong," Lawlor said.
After the verdict, the Bryant family's disbelief spilled out of the courthouse. His mother collapsed. His father confronted Lawlor in the street, prompting city officials to make a public plea for peace.
But Jashon's sister says there is no need for any more violence.
"They want us to sit there and act ignorant and start a riot and throw bottles. That's what they want," Shirin Bryant said. "Nobody going to give them the satisfaction."
Jashon's grandmother, Betty Bryant, said she was looking for Lawlor to be penalized in some way.
"I just hoped they would give him two years, one year, something for killing Jay, because Jay wasn't a bad kid. He was really a good kid," Betty Bryant said as she broke down in tears.
The community group Mothers Against Violence will hold a rally at Hartford City Hall at noon on Thursday, calling for support for the Bryant family and all victims of violence.
