SOUTHFIELD, Mich (WXYZ) — Fifteen-year-old Tyler Johnson excelled in sports and loved exploring new restaurants with his mother, who is now on a mission to find out which one of Tyler's friends pulled the trigger of a 40 caliber handgun, killing him.
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"I can't sleep. I can't eat. And my son will not rest in peace because justice has not prevailed," said Tomika Alexander, Tyler's mother. "His friends and their parents, everyone has failed me right now."
In the early morning hours of Sunday, February 11, 2024, Tyler was shot and killed in a room at the Westin Hotel in Southfield.
Police said four of Tyler's friends, also teenagers, were in the room and one of them pulled the trigger, but none of the teenagers are trying to help investigators determine who shot Tyler or why.
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"We believe that the individuals in that room know exactly what happened," said Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren, who added that investigators believe all of the teenagers were awake when the shooting occurred but may have claimed to be asleep to distance themselves from the events of that tragic morning.
"The trouble that we're having with the case is that each witness has obtained an attorney with the help of their parents," said Chief Barren. "We have circumstantial evidence, but what the prosecutor's office needs from our community is these witnesses, or members of the community who may know what transpired, to bring us that information so that the prosecutor can now have a case to present for prosecution."
And that the boys her son once considered to be his friends are not talking to police is what angers Tomika Alexander.
"I have a problem with that," Alexander said during a press conference Wednesday with Crime Stoppers, urging anyone with any information to call 1-800-SPEAK-UP where all callers remain anonymous.
Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $2,500 for information that just leads to an arrest.
The day of the deadly shooting, one teenager was arrested for being in possession of two firearms, a 9mm handgun and a 40 caliber handgun that police say is the weapon that killed Tyler.
The teenage boy who was arrested was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, but police said, right now, there is insufficient evidence to charge anyone with firing the gun that killed Tyler. And none of the teenage boys who were in the room are talking to police.
"Just please. If anybody knows something, say something. Please," Alexander pleaded. "These were supposed to be his friends and I feel like if these were friends, we shouldn't be here fighting for justice for Tyler."
