On April 8, 2026, Janetta Burkes put her grief on the page, publishing a short, fierce essay about her son, Ta’Zhon Greenwood. She remembers him as clever, stubborn, always cooking up plans, and calls him her “dangerous with a brain” child. The piece lingers on the small rituals and big dreams that defined him. Ta’Zhon was shot and killed eight days before his high school graduation in June 2020, and the family is still living with that absence.
Mother’s Essay Recounts Childhood And Hopes
In her essay for Signal Cleveland, Burkes looks back on early medical warnings and the decisions she made while pregnant, then fast forwards to the boy who loved basketball, baseball and even ping-pong. She writes about his nickname, “Strong,” his ability to pull good grades when he locked in, and the manufacturing track he planned to follow once he had that diploma in hand.
Where And When He Was Killed
According to reporting by WOIO/Cleveland 19, police found Greenwood on E. 108th Street on June 6, 2020, with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead. Authorities did not announce any arrests at the time, and the homicide remains open.
Unsolved Case And Rewards
Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County lists Greenwood’s killing as an unsolved homicide and is offering up to $2,500 for tips that lead to an arrest or prosecution, per the Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County listing. Local reporting also notes that Ta’Zhon’s father, Erby Greenwood, offered a private reward, reported at $8,000, but family members say leads have been scarce, as detailed by Cleveland Scene. The lack of resolution has left relatives and mentors pushing for renewed attention to cold cases involving young people.
Promise Interrupted: School, Work And Mentors
Mentors and local coverage say Greenwood’s grades climbed while he was at Ginn Academy, and that he had been accepted into a two-year internship with Lincoln Electric and enrolled in manufacturing coursework at Cuyahoga Community College, according to Cleveland Scene. One mentor remembered driving Ta’Zhon home and trying to show him “what life could be,” a small line that stuck with people who watched him work to build a different future.
How The Loss Fits A Larger Pattern
Ta’Zhon’s death came during a dramatic rise in homicides in Cleveland in 2020, a year community groups have pointed to as a turning point for violence and for strained investigative resources, as reported by WOIO/Cleveland 19. National research has also shown falling clearance rates for homicides in recent years, a trend that investigators and victims’ families say complicates efforts to deliver justice.
Burkes’ essay drops a single young man into the middle of that broader story: his jokes, his long baths that used up all the hot water, the diploma his family had to pick up for him. For the Greenwood family, the request at this point is simple and persistent, they want answers, not more silence.
If you have information that could help the investigation, Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County asks that you call 216-252-7463 or submit an anonymous tip through their site. The family and local advocates continue to press for leads and for more attention to unsolved killings of young Clevelanders.
