DETROIT – Nearly two decades after a single mother of four was murdered in Detroit, her family is hoping someone will come forward with the one piece of information that could solve the case.
Kimberly Jackson was just 32 years old when she was shot to death. Her sister, Catalina Jackson, makes trips to her grave to reflect on the past and pray for the future.
"She was vibrant. She was smart," Catalina Jackson said. "She was a good mom."
On April 23, 1998, Kimberly Jackson made a trip back to her childhood neighborhood on Detroit's west side.
"Well, from my understanding, she told one of my other sisters that she was going to go back to the old neighborhood to party," Catalina Jackson said.
Catalina Jackson said it wasn't out of character for her sister to go back to that area and hang with friends. After the bars would close, Catalina Jackson said her sister would sometimes gather with friends at a home in the 5000 block of Larchmont Street.
"I wish she wasn't there. Maybe she was doing something wrong or maybe she shouldn't have been there. But it does not give anybody the right to kill her the way she died. The way she died was horrible," Concraigetta Jackson said, one of Kimberly Jackson's other sisters.
Kimberly Jackson was shot several times in the head.
"Initially, they found like some of her jewelry and a shoe on the side of the house. What the investigators came up with was that she got away through the back entrance and whoever it was chased her down and pulled her back in … she had grass and everything in her fingernails and her stuff from the side of the house," said Concraigetta Jackson. "They felt like she was pulled back to her death, basically."
Police told Local 4 there was known drug activity at the house, and the family is aware, but they said it still doesn't justify a death.
"I don't have any ideas as to who done this or why. I'm believing that she was just in the wrong place in the wrong time," Catalina Jackson said.
The family said they constantly think of their sister and the moments she's missed out on.
"All the crazy moments with her six sisters. She missed out on nieces, nephews, grandkids. Especially her kids growing up, watching them reach different milestones in their lives," Catalina Jackson said.
Police told Local 4 a cold case squad is taking a new look at Kimberly Jackson's death.
Crime Stoppers is also offering a cash reward. Anonymous tips can be called into 800-SPEAKUP.
"I just hope that whoever done it has been thinking about this for 17 years. And maybe they have the heart, and just the humanity, to come forward and say you did it," Concraigetta Jackson said.