GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The family of a 15-year-old shot and killed over a month ago is still without closure. On Saturday family and community members honored Amillier Penn during a celebration of life.
"It feels the same every day, every day feels like when I got that phone call," Corey Penn told FOX 17. "Me and the family are waiting to get some type of news that will bring some type of peace."
That sense of peace has yet to come. According to Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom, the teenager was playing football with friends when someone approached them and started shooting.
"To get a call saying my son was shot. It hurts and I don't know if that pain will ever change." Penn said he didn't just lose his son, he lost his best friend. "I sit down and talk to my son about things I was going through and we come together with some type of plan to get me out of that type of mood."
During Amillier's celebration of life, his family reflected on the life of a funny kid who loved basketball, his family, and friends.
"It's meant a lot because we know that that this situation is touching other people, especially for them to come out in support and his story," Penn told FOX 17.
While police have yet to make an arrest, Penn said they have been very supportive during this time. Chief Eric Winstrom also attended the event.
"I think the city of Grand Rapids recognizes when a 15-year-old is killed, it's not only a child of his parents, he's a child of the entire city," Winstrom said.
The chief says this is a frustrating case— they know adults saw the teen get killed, but no one is coming forward. He believes silent culture is delaying justice.
"This is a child that was killed. Every person, every moral person has a responsibility to come forward with information on this case," he said. "There's a tendency for people not to want to cooperate with the police. When it comes to a 15-year-old victim, though there really is no justification."
West Michigan Silent Observer is offering a $3,200 reward for information about the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Grand Rapids Police Department at 616-456-3380 or Silent Observer at 616-774-2345 or at www.silentobserver.org.
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