DETROIT – Many questions remain over who killed a high school football player with a seemingly bright future.
Allantae Powell will never get to live up to the high expectations, and now his mother is pleading for help to get justice in her son's death.
Powell was described by many as a really good kid. According to his family, he worked hard at his church, studied and got good grades, and was even talking to several college football recruiters at Northwestern and Minnesota when he was killed.
"I really miss him. I really miss him. I miss his laughing. I just miss him ... It don't never stop hurting," his mother Kimberly Powell said.
Allantae Powell, 17, was murdered on Detroit's west side in 2011, days before what was supposed to be the first big game of his senior year.
Allantae Powell had finished up football practice at Osborne High School and went to his pastor's house afterwards. When he left that night police believe he was walking through a park near Pembroke and Wyoming. Detectives believe someone approached him, Allantae Powell started running, someone opened fire and shot him.
"He end up running a long way, but he end up falling in front of somebody's house and a lady. A lady saw him when he fell. She just seen my son falling on the ground and she called the police," his mother said. "So they said it look like he was shot in the back, but when they got the autopsy it he was shot in the head."
Detectives believe Allantae Powell may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. His mother didn't get a call about his death until the next day.
"It was like everything just stopped. Everything just stopped, I started thinking, 'This can't be true,'" his mother said.
His mother said the hardest part for her is thinking about her son's promising future, and realizing he would never make it to his high school graduation.
No matter how much time has gone by, his mother still feels she won't let go of hope and that her son's case will eventually be solved.
Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for information into the murder. You can anonymously report a tip by calling 1-800-CRIME-STOPPERS.