Father of teen killed with his half-brother by cousin shares his anguish

FOX 2 (WJBK) - The family of the teenager shot and killed Monday is still coming to grips with his murder - and because the gunman killed himself, they may never find out why.

"My baby boy, I mean, he just texted me on New Years, ‘Pops I love you. Happy New Year,’" said Clyde Thornton. "That was the last time I talked to my son."

Clyde Thornton's 17-year-old son Jamil was gunned down alongside his half-brother, 26-year-old Daniel Berry Monday.

The two siblings were slain by their cousin, who later turned the gun on themselves.

FOX 2: "What was going on with him to set him off?"

"I don’t know," Clyde said. "I really don’t know."

While the motivation behind the shooting remains unclear, Clyde and his family have a good idea of what led up to the tragedy that unfolded on Bewick and Charlevoix, Monday.

"Him and his brother was upstairs in the room, their cousin came over and pulled a gun out," he said. "And they argued and said 'Put that gun up in my mama's house.' And he said, ‘I don’t have to do nothing."’

That led to a tussle of sorts and then gunfire.

Related: Gunman kills himself after double murder of his cousins on Detroit's east side

"And Daniel was shot first and I guess him and Jamil was scuffling, and next thing you know, four to five more shots went off," he said.

Daniel was rushed to the hospital where he died. Jamil, who celebrated his 17th birthday three weeks ago, was killed almost instantly.

"He would light up the room when he walked in, just his infectious smile, his dimples, his bubbly personality," said Jennifer Bates, his stepmother.

"Daniel was a good kid too," said Clyde. "He was working, from my understanding, he has a baby on the way. Daniel was a ,,, we called him 'Woody.' He was a good kid."

Good people who fell victim to senseless violence and police say the perpetrator of it, took his own life shortly after killing his cousins.

"It’s still really no closure," Jennifer said. "It’s still open wounds, (three lives) three lives (all cousins), brothers, cousins, first cousins."

And now a  big, blended family is left heartbroken and trying to find its way forward in light of a devastating tragedy.