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Family of 17-year-old murder victim wants suspect charged as an adult
The family of a teen murder victim wants stronger charges in the case - they say they hear the suspect will be charged as a juvenile. The family wants him charged as an adult, and are incensed that friends of the accused shooter are bragging about the murder on social media.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - The family of a teen murder victim wants stronger charges in the case - they say the suspect will be charged as a juvenile and are incensed that friends of the accused shooter are bragging about the murder on social media.
The mother of 17-year-old Zachary Willis is still beside herself after he was gunned down in front of her house on December 19th.
The shooting happened on the 10300 block of Elmira. Willis was allegedly lured out of the family home on Detroit ‘s west side by his girlfriend before another teen shot him multiple times.
"I’m just not well at all," she said. "My son didn’t deserve anything like that. He didn’t deserve it from the young lady that he trusted, and he didn’t deserve it from the young man that he didn’t know. She brought that boy over here and they all knew, and that’s just how I feel about it."
Sources say the shooter was arrested but the family says they are upset for two reasons: One, they say the shooter’s friends are bragging about the murder on social media.
And secondly, the family says they believe the suspect is not being charged accordingly.
"I’m really just trying to seek Justice for my son. It seems like they’re trying to give this young man a slap on the wrist for an adult crime that he committed," the mother said. "He came with the intention of committing a crime and he carried out that intention to his fullest."
"My daughter being strong like she is to see her son like that? There’s no way I could even attend his funeral, because I was just so hurt," said the teen's grandmother.
"And his other grandmother passed out," said another relative.
Police say a witness heard the gunshots and saw Zachary lying in the street. Investigators say the victim was about to leave the area with others in a car, but the car was left at the scene running with the door open.
Witnesses say they saw possible accomplices running away after the gunfire.
The family says more arrests need to be made.
"We need something to be done and we need any and everybody that’s willing to voice and step up and say something, and do something," said a loved one. "Because we need justice for him. It’s a whole lot of family over here hurting. This is not right."
Murder victim Zachary Willis