Mom Visits Detroit Street Where Daughter Was Fatally Shot, Makes Urgent Plea To Find Killer
DETROIT (WWJ) - Moments before making a public plea to track down her daughter's killer, the mother of a 16-year-old Grosse Pointe Farms girl visited the scene where the she took her very last breath.
Jennifer Stalker told WWJ's Mike Campbell she needed to see the place where her daughter, Paige, died just days before Christmas.
"This is where Paige passed away and I just wanted her to make sure that we all knew, you know, and how much we loved her," Stalker said. "We just wanted to make sure that she was on her way up to heaven and not waiting around, taking care of us. I mean, that's what she always did, she took care of everyone."
Chris Lawrence, Paige's Uncle, gave Stalker a shoulder to cry on.
"My sister wanted to come by the scene of the crime and we're here for her, just to show our support for her. I cannot imagine, I'm a parent of three boys, and I can't imagine what she's going through," he said.
Paige was in a car with four other teenagers around 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 22, parked near the intersection of Philip and Charlevoix streets on Detroit's east side when a late-model tan Cadillac pulled up, and a man got out and started firing an automatic weapon. Thirty shots were fired into the vehicle, killing Paige and injuring three others. The uninjured teen jumped in the driver's seat and took her friends to a nearby hospital.
There was nothing doctors could do to save Paige, who was simply at the "wrong place at the wrong time," according to her mother.
Stalker said her daughter didn't even know the people in the back seat of the car that fateful night. Stalker said they were friends of her daughter's friend and the whole group was just supposed to be swinging by, picking up somebody else before coming back home.
Detroit police are investigating the case as a potential robbery that turned into murder. Investigators previously said at least one of the teens had been smoking marijuana inside the car before the shooting.
But Stalker disputed those reports that marijuana was somehow connected to the shooting, saying her daughter was not involved with drugs and had never smoked pot.
"She was so strong and endearing and loving and caring. She volunteered at the hospital, she wanted to become a doctor. She was a great babysitter and tutor. She was just one in a million," Stalker said.
The suspect is described as a black male about 6′ tall, wearing a bulletproof vest and army fatigues.
The reward for information in the case has grown to $112,500, including $100,000 put up by Grosse Pointe families. Crime Stoppers is offering the remainder.
Anyone with information on the suspect or the case is urged to submit an anonymous tip by phone at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.