NOVI, Mich. (WXYZ) — Trina Bennett stayed up late sorting clothes and shortly after she went to bed, she awoke to a series of gunshots in her home.
"I woke up to gunshots not knowing that my daughter was gone," Bennett told 7 Action News Monday.
And there's no doubt that Bennett's 21-year-old daughter was the target. Tia Lanae Joe, a certified nursing assistant, had been shot to death. Her six-month-old baby boy, Braxton, who had been in the bed with her, was also hit.
Tia was reportedly hit six times.
It happened April 7, around 4:10 AM, on the 29000 block of Rousseau Drive in Novi's Oakland Glens.
"It was just unnecessary because that girl never did nothing to nobody," said Tia's father, Timothy Joe. "Please help us."
Bennett recalls waking up, hearing her daughter calling out for her, and going to see what was happening.
"When I got to her bedroom, I couldn't get in because she was laying across the threshold," said Bennett, who also added that the lights weren't working when she tried to flip switches before calling 911.
Today, Tia's family joined Crime Stoppers in offering a $2,500 cash reward for any anonymous tip that leads to an arrest.
"Please, someone. Please, say something," said Bennett.
Novi Police said they are investigating all possibilities and the motive remains unclear. Loved ones speculate on who would want Tia dead. They said she didn't have any enemies.
Some loved ones suspect it was a hired hit to eliminate Tia and her unborn baby.
Braxton was six-months-old and Tia told her mom that she was pregnant again.
"I laughed it off," Bennett said. "I said, 'Girl, you know, leave me alone and go in your room.' But it was confirmed after she went to the morgue that she was (pregnant).
"Folks these days do not want to be responsible for their babies, so they'd rather kill the woman, kill the people, and the baby," said Tia's father, Timothy Joe.
The family is urging anyone with any information that could help bring Tia's killer to justice to come forward, if only for a little boy who survived.
"If you know anything about what happened, please come forward," said Tia's brother, Tabrian Joe, who was away at college at the time.
If you have any information that could help, please call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP (1-800-773-2587).
"It's rough. Everybody says a parent isn't supposed to bury a child. It's rough, but my strength is Braxton."
