On June 28, 2014, Thomas Zona Trent was shot in the head by a 12-year-old. Sharron Townsend was already on probation for an earlier burglary when he killed Thomas. The boy claimed that some rats chased him into an alley where Thomas, who was homeless, suddenly attacked him with a knife. But according to an acquaintance of Thomas, Sharron and another boy had been bothering the man – throwing things at him as he slept and even urinating on him – in the weeks leading up to the shooting.