DETROIT – He was sound asleep when he heard a window break downstairs, but when Douglas Thornton went downstairs to check it out, he came face-to-face with a robber who shot and killed him.
Two months after that fateful night, his family came together in hopes of getting his killer behind bars.
“Whoever did this took away my lifeline. That was my best friend,” Yasmine Thornton said.
Yasmine Thornton is Douglas Thornton's daughter.
Thornton was shot and killed inside his home on Dec.17. He was home with his family when someone tried to burglarize the house.
“'Why?' is my question. 'Why our home? Why him? Why not leave us alone in the first place?'” Latisha Pointer said, Douglas Thornton’s fiancé.
The family said the shooting doesn’t make sense.
“Why say what you said to him? You know what you said, I know what you said. Why haven’t you turned yourself in?" Pointer said.
Douglas Thornton's mother, Diane Miller, said the murder has left a void in the lives of the family memembers.
“There’s just such a big void in our life since Dec.17, and it’s been rough for us,” she said.
“We just asking anybody, please, please we’re asking step up. This ain’t about no snitching, this ain’t about no whatever kind of street code, whatever you want to call it. This is somebody who has lost their life for nothing. He wasn’t in the street so it ain’t no street code,” said Gerald Marshall, Douglas Thornton's brother.
There is a $4,500 reward offered for information. Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP to submit tips.