GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A Grand Rapids family is mourning the loss of a son and hoping that a second son recovers from his injuries.
Both of Lonnie Sherman’s grandsons were shot at a birthday party, Friday night.
Police said the shooting happened after midnight on Marshall Avenue. That’s on the cities southeast side.
Phillip Williams Jr., 23, was shot in the arm and leg.
Derecko Martin, 30, was shot three times. Both men were rushed to Spectrum Butterworth hospital. Martin later died.
“[Derecko] just came over yesterday,” Sherman said.
“He said, ‘Granny I love you,’ and he hugged me real tight.”
“I hugged him back, and I said, ‘I love you more,’” she recalled.
“He said, ‘Well, I’ma [sic] see you later.’ So, I never saw him again,” she said.
Sherman said she was sound asleep when the family heard the news. “My one daughter come in and said, ‘Grandma, Recko’s been shot!’ and I just jumped up,” Sherman recalled.
She and other family members rushed to scene.
“They wouldn’t let us go in. They wouldn’t tell us nothing, ya know,” Sherman said.
Police said some uninvited guests had shown up to the party. They started an argument.
One of the suspects pulled a gun. That’s when Martin and other people tried to hold the gunman down. Shots were fired. Martin and Williams were hit.
Both men were rushed to the hospital. Martin died from his injuries.
Sherman describes her grandsons as loving fathers. Martin was a father of three children.
“It seem like it’s a nightmare, seem like I’m dreaming and I’m not going to wake up,” she said.
Police are still looking for the gunman. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Silent Observer.
