Deontae Mitchell said 'Help me' to cousin before abduction at gunpoint

DETROIT (WJBK) - Deontae Mitchell, 13, was abducted from Nino's party store on the east side Tuesday night. His body found in a field near Harper and Baldwin Thursday morning.

Deontae's cousin Raheem Matthews spoke about what happened that night. He says after a man named Gregory Walker dropped money outside, Deontae picked up the cash then, tried to give Walker the money back - but he says Walker refused.

"He didn't do anything to anybody," said Raheem Matthews, Deontae's best friend.

Deontae's cousin says he tried to help Deontae but said that Walker pointed the gun at him and took Deontae.

His last words to his cousin were "Help me."

"This all I'm going to be looking at every day," Matthews said, holding a picture of Deontae. "It hurts."

As Deontae went missing Tuesday night many are asking now why wasn't there an Amber Alert pushed out - an alarm to everyone's cell phones?

"Not one person had their phone go off for this Amber Alert," said Takesha Ross. "Not one person."

Michigan State Police say that since they didn't have a license plate, the alert didn't meet the criteria for what they call a wireless emergency alert..

These folks say that's not good enough.

"It is important to our community to look for these babies," Ross said. "If we are not told about it, not everyone is on Facebook, so how would we know?"

Some Detroiters are saying that sick feeling was felt after another child murder has become the norm. They say enough is enough and they want to hold each other accountable.

"13 year olds, 2 year olds, 5 year olds, it is not okay," said Minister Freedom of New Era Detroit. "Every week it's a new baby."

"The way he died, how brutal and cold-blooded," said Pamela McWilliams. "My heart is bursting for his mom and his family."

Community members and church leaders near the field where Deontae was found, it's another area these neighbors say has become desensitized to violence...

"We need a curfew that needs to be enforced," said Tuesday Hicks, chaplain. "Because it's dangerous. It's a different time."

"If we could stand on these corners and if we can walk our children to the stores, and back and forth home." Minister Freedom said. "We can prevent these type of things."

And now community members are planning yet another vigil for another Detroit child. A city prayer is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Riverwalk and a vigil for Deontae at 8:30 p.m. at Nino's near Buckingham and Warren.