(CBS-DETROIT) – More than 100 family, friends and community members gathered Saturday for a vigil to pay tribute to Jerome Coleman Jr., a 7-year-old boy who died in a fatal crash on Nov. 9.
The meeting took place near the intersection of East Seven Mile and Mound roads, a few feet from where Coleman Jr. was killed.
His father says the support he and his family receive to have felt and seen was heart-warming after this unthinkable tragedy.
“It really means a lot because these people kept me going, I swear,” said Jerome Coleman Sr., father of Jerome Coleman Jr. “The man who did this doesn’t know what he took from us. It’s very difficult and I’m still struggling with it.”
A tree in the center of the median of Mound Road was decorated with Sonic the Hedgehog clothing in memory of Coleman Jr.
At exactly 4:38 p.m., the time that Coleman Jr. lost his life, family and friends released balloons into the sky. A moving tribute to the victim of an alleged drunk driving incident.
Many of the speakers shared memories of the beloved 7-year-old boy, but also the message that drunk driving is never the answer because it can cause so much pain to a family.
“People, put down the drinks. Stop drinking and driving,” said one woman who spoke at the vigil. “We have innocent people losing their lives every day because of the senseless activities.”
Three others were hospitalized in the accident, and Jerome’s sister Kiaree is still recovering.
“I still have that with her eye, she still has some flakes of skin under there from the accident, from carpet burns,” Coleman Sr. said. “And in her ear, where the blood came out, she still has some sores in her ear.”
She says she feels fine, but just misses her older brother.
“I miss him so much,” said Kiaree, Coleman Jr.’s younger sister.
Ahmad Jatta, a 30-year-old man from Roseville, did is facing multiple charges in connection with the crashincluding operating under the influence causing death and three counts of operating under the influence causing serious injury, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.
Jatta was charged on Tuesday. A probable cause hearing is scheduled for Nov. 25, with a preliminary investigation set for Dec. 2.
