REED CITY, Mich. — Family and friends remembered four-month-old Renzi McCall on Friday night, wearing blue at a candlelight vigil.
On Sunday morning, July 21, McCall was allegedly beaten by 31-year-old Savannah Miller, who has since been charged with murder and child abuse in the baby's death.
The incident happened at a Reed City apartment complex where Miller and McCall's mother both lived.
Three days later, McCall passed away in a Grand Rapids hospital.
READ MORE: 'She should have been in jail': Reed City woman now charged with murder in death of 4-month-old baby
"She won the hearts of our family immediately. We're devastated," said McCall's grandfather, Jeremiah White, who spoke to FOX 17 at the time.
White attended the evening vigil, too, along with many of McCall's mother's coworkers from the Reed City McDonalds.
The gathering that began on a sidewalk and soon spilled onto the street. Statistics on child abuse were read to the crowd. A pile of flowers grew beneath a telephone pole.
"I’m a fixer. I’m always trying to fix everything," White said on Friday. "The crazy thing about this is I just can't fix it."
In remembering Renzi, White says he often returns to multiple memories of her sucking on a bottle: "She was my 'thickalicious'" he said.
"Even though she never spoke, I feel like I knew exactly who she was," White said. "Which is so weird. How do you get to know a four-month-old so strong and so fast?"
The family of McCall want to see legislation come from her passing, something that allows people to better understand others' pasts and spare their loved ones from tragedy.
"The hard part is not knowing," White said. "The hard part is not knowing that you could totally be investing in a person that you know nothing about their background."
