19-year-old Aidan Ellison Killed ‘Over Loud Music’

Stay connected via Google News

Follow us for the latest updates from Unheard Voices

In an eerie reminiscence of the Jordan Davis case, an Oregon man has been arrested and charged with the murder of a teenager in a hotel parking lot over loud music.

Aidan Ellison Killed Over Loud Music

Robert Keegan, 47, and Aidan Ellison, 19, who were staying at the Stratford Inn in Ashland,Oregon. They got into a confrontation on Nov. 23 when Keegan objected to the volume of the music Ellison was playing in the hotel parking lot, according to authorities.

“The victim had apparently been playing some music loudly in the parking lot and this upset the suspect, which caused the suspect to go down and engage him in an argument,” Tighe O’Meara, Ashland’s Police chief, told the media.

Around 4:20 a.m. during their argument, Keegan pulled a gun from his coat and fired a single shot, hitting Ellison in the chest, police said. Ellison died at the scene.

“The blame for the incident is entirely on Robert Keegan, he is 100% responsible for it,” O’Meara said. “He’s the one who chose to bring a gun into the situation.”

CNN reports that Keegan had been displaced in the Almeda wildfires and was staying at the hotel with his young son.

The killing of Aidan Ellison, which is strikingly similar to Jordan Davis, has sparked a conversation on race relations.

“The incident where Aidan was shot after an argument listening to his music was really about him not submitting to that man’s perceived authority,” Precious Edmonds, a spokesperson for the Southern Oregon Black Leaders, Activists, and Community Coalition (SOBLACC) told Oregon Live.

“He was listening to his music too loudly — that’s irrelevant. It doesn’t change a thing, how good the man who shot him was. All of those things are not relevant to what occurred. But that’s the narrative, that’s the frame of white supremacy.”

Suspect Charged

Keegan was charged and indicted for:

• second degree murder
• first degree manslaughter
• unlawful possession of a firearm
• recklessly endangering another person

He pleaded not guilty to all four charges.

Keegan is currently being held in the Jackson County Jail without bail. He is set to appear in court on February 21, 2021.