DETROIT (WXYZ) — Loved ones of Elizabeth Candice Laird said goodbye Sunday at Balduck Park.
The 27-year-old student who went by "Candy," was killed this week on the city's east side. Police found her body Wednesday in a dumpster.
Saturday, investigators arrested James Cockerham in connection with her death. They believe he first attacked Laird in the elevator of an apartment building and then dumped her body.
“She was caring, she was ambitious," said Laird's cousin Diamond Herring. "She had dreams, big dreams,"
Laird was weeks away from graduating with a degree to become a surgical tech, and had plans to eventually become a nurse.
“It runs over and over again in my head what I could have done to prevent this from happening," her older brother Curtis Cann said during Sunday's vigil.
Laird, who police don't believe knew her killer, is one of four women killed in Detroit within a week's time.
The other victims include 23-year-old Destiny Reed, 24-year-old Nyree Henderson, and an unknown 36-year-old woman.
Reed was gunned down early Mother's Day on Van Dyke near Mack Avenue according to police.
Laird’s loved ones pray for “all the mothers” who lost children this week and call for people who know something to speak up & tell @detroitpolice pic.twitter.com/N3i1pPB5CE
— Jenn Schanz (@JennSchanzWXYZ) May 19, 2019
The next day around 11:30 p.m. Nyree and two others were shot in her vehicle that was parked on Guilford, not far from Chandler Park Drive.
The 36-year-old woman was found dead in a vacant lot Sunday morningnear Coplin and Waveney. Investigators said she was shot in the head.
“Every time we lose a young person in our city, the future of Detroit is jeopardized," said Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Mary Sheffield, who was present during Sunday's vigil.
Detroit Police believe Reed and Henderson's deaths may be gang-related. They're looking for the driver of a black Chrysler 300 in connection to the two fatal shootings.
Sunday night, Detroit Police released surveillance footage of two male persons of interest in connection to the Coplin and Waveney killing.
Sheffield, and several of Laird's loved ones, urged the community to speak up if they know anything that could help police bring any of the killers to justice.
“The community, we know things. Neighborhoods and people who reside in neighborhoods know things, they know people. And we have to be they eyes and ears for our community and speak up.”
Anyone with any information on the person or people involved in any of these cases is urged to call Detroit Police Homicide Unit at 313-596-2260 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
