BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — A handful of people gathered in Battle Creek on Tuesday to remember Kai Turner.
The vigil happened in an empty lot across the street from the home where the two-year-old boy was shot and killed earlier in the day during a drive-by shooting.
Police do not believe Kai’s family was deliberately targeted.
“You put your baby to sleep thinking that he’s going to wake up in the morning and you all are going to be fine,” said Julia Hatfield, a neighbor. “[Instead] you get woken up to gunshots and your baby is gone… That’s horrible, that’s beyond horrible.”
Hatfield, like other people at the vigil, did not know Kai or his loved ones.
They told FOX17 they simply wanted to offer their condolences and demand justice for his case.
“It could’ve happened to me, it could happen to anybody,” said Cheyenne Deskins, a mother of three who organized the vigil. “The baby didn’t deserve that. That was an innocent little baby and I think that it’s wrong that it happened this way.”
People laid candles, flowers, and stuffed animals in Kai’s honor, but says the best gift would be for someone with information to come forward to police.
“How many families gotta hurt?” asked Hatfield. “How many kids do we have to lose? How many people do we have to lose, period. Something’s gotta happen.”
Those with knowledge related to the shooting are urged to connect with police at 269-781-0911 or Silent Observer at 269-964-3888.
