Mother of Highland Park murder victim fights for justice for parents of slain children

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - Bernice Ringo-Wilson’s son Natalian Ringo was shot and killed in August 2019.

"He was the first homicide in 2019 in Highland Park," Ringo-Wilson said. "When they took my child they took part of me, a lot of me."

After losing her 23-year-old son, she joined a grief support group called Open Arms and now she's trying to help others. A walk along the Detroit Riverfront will be held Saturday.

"Just like I didn't think it was going to happen to me, if you don't become vocal before it happens to you then it could happen to you," Ringo-Wilson said. "We all need to be vocal, whether we lost a child or not, so we can stop the madness because that same person who killed my son is probably going to kill someone else."

Bernice Ringo-Wilson

Ringo-Wilson is a longtime activist with the Detroit 300 who has fought for safer streets. Now she's fighting for herself and other parents still seeking justice.

"I just want to know who killed my son," she said.

Detroit police Commissioner Martin Jones, with the Detroit 300, said other members have also lost children to murder.

"These are people who paid it forward, who were active in the community to try to make it safer for everyone only to be subjected to the same kind of violence that they'd come out to the assistance of many other families on. They fell to the same gun violence themselves," Jones said.

Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest in connection with Ringo’s murder.

Submitting a tip is anonymous and rewards are given when an arrest is made.

Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP or visit 1800speakup.org.

"The one thing we cannot afford to do is to give up. We've got to put a pressure on our community to speak up when they know about crimes that have taken place in the community because we're all in this together," Jones said. "We need that help because guess what, there's no telling if you might need that help one day yourself."

Ringo-Wilson is urging the community to get involved.

"Just come out and represent your loved one, be heard because we need to be heard. I know the police are busy, I get it, but we can't just stay in the room and not say anything," she said.

Saturday's justice walk is at 9 a.m. It will begin at the carousel at the park at Rivard and Atwater on the Detroit Riverfront.