To celebrate his 20th birthday in April, Diamonte Howard planned to show his mother, Tamica, his acceptance letter to Wilberforce University. He would be the first in his family to attend college. He would attain his degree and then come back to Baltimore and start a business. He would lift his family out of poverty. He would make sure everyone in the O’Donnell Heights Housing Project could get a good paying job. He would make sure all of the children in the neighborhood had safe places to play and enough food to eat.
Instead, Diamonte was shot and killed outside of his home, a week before his birthday.