A Florida A&M University basketball star was stabbed to death after an argument with a friend on Sunday, Sept. 4 shocking the campus and inspiring a candlelight vigil.
According to media reports, police discovered Shannon Washington with a fatal knife wound to the neck in her apartment earlier in the day. She was later pronounced dead at an area hospital. The 20-year-old friend, Starquinesha Palmer, was charged with first-degree murder in the homicide.
Without disclosing the exact reason or manner of death, police officials will only state that Palmer had visited Washington.
FAMU’s president expressed the sorrow and dismay that has gripped the famous historically black university in Tallahassee, Fla.
“For Shannon to be killed in the prime of her life is tragic and senseless,” said FAMU’s president, James Ammons. “She had so much promise as a student athlete. This is a great loss for the university and our athletic program.”
Washington was expected to begin playing as a shooting guard for the women’s basketball team this season after transferring to the university from Illinois Valley Community College.
It is a tragedy for the senseless, premature death of Washington by a so-called friend to happen in the first place. But is also unfortunate that FAMU, one of the most prolific institutions in the nation in terms of churning out black baccalaureates and black doctoral graduates, to make national news for something like this while it fails to capture consistent headlines for its renowned educational prowess and research.
–terry shropshire
