Family of 17-year-old killed in Roseville make plea for justice

ROSEVILLE, Mich. (FOX 2) - WEB UPDATE: A Utica man has been arrested Wednesday for the murder of Antonio Christian.

The search for a killer of a teenager is underway after the boy was shot and killed at a Roseville neighborhood late Tuesday night.

"It's like it isn't real at first until you realize he isn't there and not going to come back and I'm not going to see him again," said Shilo Christian-Walker, the victim's sister.
 
Walker got the phone call early Wednesday morning that her 17-year-old big brother had been shot, leaving her in disbelief.

"It was horrible to have to hear that," she said. "At two o'clock in the morning I wake up and I hear my brother got shot in his chest."

The family of 17-year-old Antonio Christian of Detroit says the teen had been visiting a friend to get his hair cut.

"I can't stop crying, that's my baby," said Shanna Walker, Antonio's mother. "He didn't deserve to go like that. Nobody does."

Roseville police say just before 11 p.m. Tuesday on Pinehurst near 12 Mile someone shot the teen once in the chest. Antonio was lying on the sidewalk while his friend desperately tried to save him.

"He tried to do CPR I asked him was he crying, was he scared?" Shanna said.

Neighbors heard the gunfire and called 911.

"I heard the girl that was with him, a female voice, ask the ambulance people is he still breathing and that was the one of the saddest things I've ever heard in my life," said neighbor Dela Shotts.

Roseville police say they believe the shooter then ran west on 12 Mile while investigators are still trying to find a motive.
 
"What possible reason could there be in the suspect's mind, he may think it's justified - it's not," said Dep. Chief Don Glandon, Roseville police.

Roseville police don't have much of a description of that shooter, saying it is a black man in his early 20s, about six feet tall and wearing all black.

Meanwhile Antonio's family says the teen loved visiting friends in Roseville where they lived for 14 years. Antonio, who loved playing video games and dancing, is described as playful and outgoing.

"If he were here right now, if he walked through that door everyone would be in there laughing and playing," said Shilo. "Now everybody is in there crying."

"Mothers don't bury their children," said Nichelle Gaston-Pressley, a cousin. "This has got to stop."

Now as this family prays Antonio's killer is soon caught they also say:

"We forgive you for the grief you caused my family," Pressley said. "Do us a favor and turn yourself in."