A fundraiser was started this week to help the family of Isiah Rosario, a Concord High School student who was shot and killed in Providence over the weekend. 

The purpose of the GoFundMe is to help Rosario’s mother, Adeline Bynum, and his siblings stay in Rhode Island while Rosario is laid to rest surrounded by friends and family, wrote Isiah’s aunt, Angel Bynum, on the website. The website has raised $3,800 of the requested $5,000. 

“As some of you know, my sister lost her 15-year-old boy in a senseless crime early Saturday morning,” Bynum wrote. “My nephew was the funniest, sweetest and all-around likable kind of kid who just drew you to him. If it wasn’t his smile that invited you in, it was his funny jokester ways.”

Providence police responded to the Chad Brown housing development on March Street around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday for reports of a shooting, said Providence Police Sgt. Al DeChristofano. Upon arrival, police found Rosario laying on the ground suffering from a single gunshot wound to the chest. 

Officers performed CPR on Rosario while waiting for rescue to arrive. He was transported via ambulance to Rhode Island Hospital where he was pronounced dead. 

Rosario was first reported missing from Concord on April 1 by his mother, who believed he ran away, said Concord Deputy Chief John Thomas. Police had tracked him to the Providence area prior to the shooting and notified authorities. 

The Chad Brown housing development, which offers low-income housing to eligible candidates, is located in Providence’s Wankuck neighborhood. The area used to have a bad reputation for violent crime before it was cleaned up a few years ago, Sgt. DeChristofano said.

“Isiah was originally from Providence but when my sister started to see the city worsen, she moved further away,” Bynum said. “Going from the outskirts of city towns to Concord, she wanted her sons to enjoy life without the influences of the inner city surrounding them.”

Rosario moved to Concord from Providence toward the end of the 2021-2022 school year as an eighth grader at Rundlett Middle School before beginning his freshman year at the high school this past fall. 

Rosario had a tough time acclimating to the his new surroundings and the school district, said Concord High School Principal Michael Reardon, but he was very well liked and had many friends.

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