Jamarrea was a senior from Richmond and he was attending De Anza High School when he died. He is cousin to Oshiana Thompkins who was our 2nd Remembrance Project Submission, he served as a pallbearer in her funeral.

He hoped to earn a college basketball scholarship and, ultimately, to move his mother out of Richmond. Multiple schools — including Pasadena City College, Cal State East Bay, Texas State University, Chabot College and San Francisco State — had expressed interest in granting him such a scholarship.

Jamarrea also played basketball for the East Bay Soldiers throughout California, Nevada and even China. His friends often called him “Magic,” after former Lakers superstar Earvin “Magic” Johnson, because of JMac’s passion for the sport. He wore a jersey numbered “32” — the same as the hall of famer. He wanted to be an artist. He and other community members had painted a mural at Rancho Market on Earth Day in 2018.

His family was affected by gun violence multiple times in a short span even before his death. Weeks before he was killed, his 19-year-old cousin Oshiana Thompkins died in a shooting in Orinda. Another cousin, Rodney Frazier Jr., was shot to death in North Richmond on Nov. 7, 2014. He was 16.

We remember you always