DETROIT – A 6-year-old boy was killed Sunday night after a stray bullet pierced the window of his home on Anglin Street, striking him as he played inside, according to his family.
As of Monday, no arrests have been made.
“It was just one shot. That’s all it took,” the boy’s father, Terrance Neal, said. “It’s indescribable. When you can’t smell your baby’s breath anymore … when he can’t tell you he loves you. It’s crushing. My world is crushed.”
Detroit police Chief Todd Bettison said multiple vehicles were reportedly exchanging gunfire in the area of Anglin and Stender on the city’s east side around 9 p.m. Sunday. The child was not the intended target.
Neal said his son, Rylee Love -- who his father describes as a joyful, artistic child who loved swimming, Spider-Man, and Bluey -- had been playing outside in the sunshine and in the pool. Later on, he and his brother asked for McDonald’s for dinner.
“When he got his McDonald’s, he sat down … right there in that window,” Neal said, pointing at the front window of his home. “That’s where he got shot.”
Neal said he left to go pick up his other son from work and got the horrific phone call.
“My cousin called me and said, ‘Baby got shot,’” Neal said. “I rushed over and got him to the hospital, but they told me he didn’t make it.”
Detroit police are now searching for at least three vehicles believed to be involved: a red Jeep, a black sedan, and a third unidentified vehicle.
A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest.
“God is gonna find them. I don’t think God gonna let this go,” Neal said.
Bettison also made a direct appeal to the public -- and to anyone involved in the shooting -- to come forward.
“If you were not the shooter, now is the time to tell us who was,” Bettison said. “Because a young life was taken.”
Click here to visit the GoFundMe page for the family.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detroit police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP. You can also submit a tip by clicking here.