Friday marked one year since a 28-year-old man was ambushed and fatally shot while walking into a church activity in Seattle's University District.Lyn
Friday marked one year since a 28-year-old man was ambushed and fatally shot while walking into a church activity in Seattle's University District.
Lynn Croft, the mother of Lebron "Givaun" Castleberry, believes there is still hope to find her son's killer.
"It feels like all those bullets run right through me every day," Croft told KOMO News. "I would like to see justice not only for my son, but also so this doesn't continue. They waited until he was walking into church with his wife and his son next to him, in broad daylight."
The shooting happened July 31, 2025, at the Pursuit Northwest Church at the corner of NE 47th Street and 17th Avenue NE. The church was hosting a dinner event in the parking lot at the time.
Surveillance video showed a Hyundai Elantra approach the church and a masked gunman jumps out and opens fire. The shots hit Castleberry, killing him at the scene.
A photo of a vehicle connected to a U-District homicide that occurred July 31, 2025. The car was found torched overnight in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood, Aug. 1, 2025. (OnScene.TV)Hours later, police found the Elantra on fire in a parking lot on Phinney Avenue North.
The shooting sparked an alert to the University of Washington campus, though investigators quickly determined there was no tie to the school.
Leadership at the Pursuit Northwest Church quickly put out a $50,000 reward leading for information leading to an arrest in the case.
Croft says her son had turned away from his prior life where he fell into gangs in Seattle. She says he had given his life over to his faith, got married, and was taking care of the couple's young son.
28-year-old LeBron Castleberry was killed in an ambush shooting outside a church in Seattle's University District on July 31, 2025 (Family photo used with permission)“It was very quickly he could see what was going on there, and he backed away and connected with the Lord," Croft said. “I have forgiven them, but it’s not my forgiveness that they need, they need the Lord’s forgiveness.”
Croft believes gang members targeted her son, adding that he had been ambushed and injured in a shooting a year earlier.
“He was still connected with individuals who were trying to get out of gang life, and they tricked him," she said.
Croft said she had tried to get her son to move home to Tennessee, but he wanted to stay in Seattle, where he also had family.
“I am hoping the community of Seattle will love my son just as much as my son loved Seattle," Croft said. “I see the struggles you all are going through there and it breaks my heart that other mothers and fathers are losing their sons. Be brave enough to speak up, this is your community, Seattle. It’s your community, and you have an opportunity to be brave and not tolerate this by speaking up.”
