Former Tam student Jacari Cook passed away on Sunday, February 7 at 29 years old. He and his father-in-law, both Marin City residents, were shot in Marin City during a confrontation with a neighbor. According to news reports, Cook and his father-in-law were coming to the aid of a relative who had supposedly been injured in a relationship dispute.

A suspect was identified by the Marin County Sheriff Department. According to a press release sent by Lt. Jamie Scardina on February 25, a search warrant was obtained for 37 year old Charles Welsh.

Jewell Barrow, advisor for the Black Student Union, remembered Cook as a student when he was a member of the Black Student Union Club, in the early 2000s.

Barrow reflected on the time she found out about Cook’s passing.“When I came back from church…I just saw tape everywhere! The yellow tape. Danger tape. And I saw people, and I… asked the guy who was walking by what happened. And he told me that Jacari and Carl got shot, got killed. And that’s when I found out. It was shocking, very shocking,” Barrow said.

“His grandmother and I were classmates and so I knew his uncles and mother. Lots of people in his family came to town,” she said. “I was basically in shock. I guess [that’s what] everybody else felt like. And then when I was told basically what happened, that even made it unreal. More unreal. You know, because I can’t imagine that, not in Marin City, not people you know.”

Barrow said she couldn’t remember anything negative about him. “He was nothing but the average, typical young guy,” she said. “He always had a smile. A pretty nice smile actually.”