0:00

Up next out Loud with Giano

0:02

called part of the game which Demetrius

0:06

Griffin Jr. Was just fifteen years old

0:08

when he was burned alive on the West

0:10

Side of Chicago, placed in a garbage

0:13

can, and left to die in an alley.

0:15

The teenager's death was ruled a homicide

0:17

but remains unsolved. Today.

0:20

I try to get to the bottom of what happened. This

0:23

is outllowed with Giano calledwell, Welcome

0:35

back to allowed with Gianno calledwell. I'm

0:37

Gianno calledwell and on this week's

0:39

show, I'm talking about violence in Chicago,

0:42

which continues to devastate the city

0:45

in so many families. In fact,

0:47

over the Loan Fourth of July weekend, at least

0:50

a hundred and eight people were shot in Chicago,

0:52

including two police officers and several

0:55

children. Two of those

0:57

children were girls aged five and

0:59

six years old. At least seventeen

1:02

were killed in the shootings, and another person

1:04

was murdered and as stabbing. And

1:07

just two weeks earlier, over Father's Day weekend

1:09

last month, a hundred and ten people

1:11

were shot in Chicago. Fourteen

1:13

of them, including five children, were killed.

1:16

That was in less than three days. I want

1:18

to tackle this tragic situation

1:20

in Chicago by going back to one

1:23

especially horrific case. In

1:26

fifteen year old Demetrius Griffin

1:28

Jr. Was found dead in a garbage

1:31

can, burned beyond recognition

1:33

in an alley on the West side of Chicago.

1:36

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office

1:38

said he was burned alive

1:41

following an optopsy law

1:43

enforcement rulee Demetrius death at homicide,

1:47

but his case remains unsolved. His

1:49

family is unsatisfied, demanding

1:52

justice for a boy who was described as

1:54

gentle, respectful, and someone

1:56

who loved dogs. They have offered

1:59

rewards for in nation on the Killer or

2:01

Killers to learn more. My guests

2:03

on this week's show is demetrious

2:06

aunt Rochelle Sykes, who

2:08

has continued fighting for a nephew and seeking

2:10

answers. Rochelle is also a woman of

2:12

faith who works at the new Mount Pilgrim

2:15

Church in Chicago. With that, I want

2:17

to welcome Rochelle Sykes to Outllow with Giano

2:19

Caldwell. Thanks so much for coming

2:21

on. Thank you. Now

2:25

you know I've met you before.

2:28

I actually interviewed you for Fox News Channel

2:31

and then I pushed

2:33

the Lord Ingram Show to to do

2:36

the the town hall on

2:38

Chicago violence, and you joined

2:41

joined us then, and then you joined us for a

2:43

second UM town

2:45

hall the following year. So

2:48

much has happened in the city of Chicago. If

2:50

you look at the numbers. Some have estimated

2:53

the fourth of July weekend

2:55

that was over a hundred and ten people

2:57

shot UM so many fatally,

3:00

I believe about eighteen and twenty fatally,

3:02

including two police officers. What

3:06

the heck is going on in

3:08

Chicago? I

3:12

have no clue. UM,

3:16

I see right now, I see

3:19

if you know that your child

3:21

or your significant other, your

3:23

loved one, your your grandchildren,

3:26

your children are doing things that are

3:28

not um of

3:30

legal standards, we

3:33

need to come together and turn these people

3:35

in. We know that,

3:38

UM, every child is not perfect.

3:41

Every child is not perfect. But when

3:44

you harbor UM a

3:46

person that may have killed or hurts

3:49

someone, or you know that they're have

3:51

a thousands and thousands of guns

3:54

or just a house full of gun and ammunition

3:56

and hanging with the wrong people, I'd

4:00

rather you turn that child in. Dame,

4:03

you stand at the great fight and much

4:05

to lower down. And

4:09

I a hud agree with

4:11

you as someone who's from the city and whose

4:13

family has also been impacted

4:15

by the violence in Chicago. I would rather

4:18

much rather even a family member go

4:20

to jail than to see

4:22

them out committing more crimes and endangering

4:24

the lives of others. So I really appreciate

4:27

you saying that, and I want to I

4:29

want to get into, um,

4:32

what happened with your your nephew, such

4:34

a young young life, fifteen years

4:36

old when this happened. Can you

4:38

take us back to that tragic day in

4:42

when did you know something was

4:44

wrong? And how did you find out Demetrius

4:47

was no longer with us? Well,

4:51

it goes back to that Saturday morning.

4:53

Um, My mom's birthday

4:56

was on the nineties. Um, go

4:58

back to that Saturday morning. We were

5:00

picking her. Um, Me and

5:03

a couple of other church members were

5:05

picking her out to take her out for breakfast

5:07

to celebrate her her birthday

5:10

because the church's pastor's anniversary

5:12

was that weekend as well. And

5:14

so when I pulled up to

5:17

pick her up, my sister and my niece was coming

5:19

out, and I'm like, Okay, where is she on

5:21

this early in the morning, because my this is

5:23

not a morning person. She said,

5:25

well, Demeter has didn't come home last night.

5:28

And I was like, okay, what

5:30

do you need he didn't come home last night, because

5:32

that made no sense because he's never missed

5:34

a curfew. And she

5:37

said, well, he didn't come home last night. And

5:39

but some odd meason right away

5:41

to my mind came what I

5:43

saw in the New nes is that they

5:46

found the body of block and a half away

5:49

in a garbage camp, burned beyond recognition.

5:52

Um. They had said it was

5:54

a small frame. Um

5:57

man, they said it was a man at first. So

6:00

we went on to breakfast and we ate.

6:02

We sat in eight and what we was uneas

6:04

everybody at the time it was unneas. So

6:08

we came back, we came to

6:10

the church, We did what we needed to do at the

6:12

church and bringing that

6:14

by time we got back to the house, he would

6:16

have showed up when we would know

6:19

his whereabout. And when

6:21

we came back to the house, she said

6:23

she hasn't seen him. No one had seen

6:25

him. And so um, I said, well,

6:27

you know it's time that we contact

6:31

the police because this is not of

6:33

his nature. And I did

6:36

speak to someone at the police station. They

6:38

and they asked me some

6:40

questions about you know, how tall

6:42

was he, how big was he?

6:44

And and things of that nature. And then

6:47

UM, the first thing I had spoken was teld

6:50

me, well, I think you wouldn't need to get some gentraal records.

6:53

UM. Amberler did go up. I

6:56

did um authorize for

6:58

them to pick up his central records.

7:01

And at that point it

7:03

was a way. Yet we

7:06

waited. UM that was that was

7:08

out. Saturday we waited. Sunday

7:11

we attended church. UM

7:14

we helped our pastor celebrate

7:17

um his anniversary because that's what

7:19

we would have done naturally.

7:22

UM, and we just prayed

7:25

that the outcome wasn't the outcome

7:27

that we were feeling it

7:29

love. UM. We did not tell

7:31

pastor. UM.

7:34

We did tell one of the associate ministers

7:36

so that someone at the church wouldn't know what

7:39

was going on because the meet was also a member

7:41

of the church and baptized and

7:44

UM Christian at New Mount killed me. So

7:47

we didn't tell pastor. UM. Monday

7:50

came around. I didn't

7:52

let him know that Monday,

7:54

and UM he was a little bit distraught about it.

7:57

UM about three something, UM

8:01

I got calm um to

8:03

come that the police

8:06

was there and my time I got there

8:08

that you will leave it and they had

8:10

identified him UM

8:13

by his dental records stepped out? Was him?

8:15

I mean if the house was full of people and

8:18

polsal screaming when I when

8:20

I walked up, folks we screaming. You

8:22

can just hear people screaming from

8:25

outside. And to say

8:27

that when I say that, I pulled

8:30

up in a car to a

8:32

house where the door was closed

8:35

and I can hear screaming, you

8:38

need to No one heard him scream

8:40

in that alley. He was birth alive.

8:43

No one heard him scream in that alley.

8:46

Are we going about our business so

8:48

much that we don't recognize

8:51

when there's something wrong and to report

8:53

it? Are we that afraid that

8:55

we cannot report when the client is

8:57

going on. When you see

8:59

something out there, you don't

9:01

say anything you see something

9:04

wrong. If you saw a

9:06

young person walking down the street with a handgun

9:08

in the hand, you wouldn't call the police.

9:11

That's the part that disturbing

9:13

to me is that we are allowing

9:16

them to take over, and then

9:19

they are getting younger and younger people

9:21

to do these clients because they're

9:24

getting a flap on the rim. At

9:26

some point we have to

9:28

stand up and say

9:30

enough is enough. And

9:33

it starts

9:35

you're you're absolutely correct. And every

9:38

time I hear this story, it

9:40

really brings tears to the

9:42

eyes of so many that Loria Ingram heard

9:44

the story and she began crying on air. Um,

9:48

I think that is it's just deplurable.

9:51

What has happened to your

9:53

nephew and what has happened in the city

9:55

of Chicago, and it seems to be no

9:58

answers to what's going on one

10:00

in fact, things have gotten worse, not

10:03

better. They've gotten worse. And

10:05

you wonder and you mentioned you said,

10:07

you know, they get a slap on a risk and that goes back

10:09

to the County prosecutor's office, who's

10:12

allowed over twenty five people

10:15

off without charging them. And these

10:17

were felony cases, some of them include

10:20

murder. Knowing what happened

10:22

to your your nephew, how

10:25

does that make you feel? It makes me sick

10:27

to my stomach because one

10:29

of those people could have been the person that murdered

10:32

my nephew. I have no answers,

10:34

I have no closure. I've had

10:36

no sleep. I mean, I have

10:39

nothing. Nothing we had

10:41

we went from

10:44

we didn't even have a

10:47

funeral. There was nothing to say goodbye

10:49

too. They met us at the

10:51

at the funeral I mean at the cemetery with

10:54

the casket. That's how we said Goodbut

10:56

we had a memorial service and it was

10:58

over seven. Well here, but

11:01

it's not the same. That's not the same.

11:03

It's different when there's someone that passes

11:07

yea um um

11:09

elder age and someone that passes

11:12

that has been sick, because then you

11:14

get too to sit with

11:17

that person and you get to um

11:19

talk with that person and get to you

11:21

know, let them know that it's

11:23

okay. But when someone

11:26

is matched from you with

11:28

no means of an explanation

11:31

of m it's a hard thing

11:33

to deal with. My family is

11:35

torn apart, and I for sure

11:38

there's other families like mine with

11:40

no no resolution, no answer,

11:43

and one't why this is continually

11:45

to happen. And then some

11:48

people won't say anything or do anything

11:50

until it hit your front door. You

11:53

need to start thinking to now, you

11:56

need to start doing something now. Anybody

11:59

in my family know that

12:02

I will turn them in without a doubt.

12:05

I will have the stuff without

12:07

a doubt. I'd rather you be

12:10

alive and locked up, and

12:12

then my whole family know through the

12:14

misery of having to put you in the ground,

12:17

not knowing what happened to you and

12:19

wishing we could have done something new. And

12:22

and with that being the case, as you just

12:25

as you just said, you would rather

12:27

someone go to jail than throw

12:30

their lives away by shooting

12:32

someone else and then possibly in and up dead

12:34

themselves. You would rather them go

12:36

to jail. And I understand that. And let

12:38

me ask you this question. And I know

12:41

that your nephew you were responsible

12:43

for him. Was his mom not around?

12:45

Was his dad not around? What was the situation

12:48

there? No, his his dad

12:51

was around. His dad recently died. Um

12:54

of Ana. Yeah,

12:56

I think it was from a bloken heart, but they

12:59

will around. But he was

13:01

my only nephew, so

13:04

he's the teeth baby. UM.

13:07

When Demetrius was born, he was pretty

13:10

um I think he weighed a little bit less than three pounds

13:13

and he had these beautiful bluish

13:15

gray eyes. So he became everyone's

13:17

baby because he was the baby of the family

13:20

for a long time. And then he was so

13:22

little for his age, so he

13:24

was everybody's baby. So even

13:26

though I did a lot of things for him, everybody

13:29

actually did a lot of things for him, and

13:34

UM took they just took him into his wing

13:36

because he was a lovable kid. He

13:39

had an old soul um.

13:41

He loved animals, He

13:44

did things for the native he saw someone

13:47

carrying that he would want to help

13:49

and take their spains in the house. Just

13:51

the type of kid he loved. Now I'm

13:53

not he was a good kid, not involved in any

13:55

of the gangs or any of the trouble in Chicago,

13:58

which typically when I was

14:00

growing up, the way people were shot.

14:02

Of the reason why is because they were involved in gangs,

14:04

they hung out with the wrong people. And

14:06

certainly these days that doesn't matter anymore.

14:09

It's not the same thing. It's not an affiliation

14:12

thing. A kid was twenty well, young

14:14

man twenty years old on the l

14:16

just the other day, was a

14:19

student of the University of Chicago. A

14:21

bullet shot through the

14:24

train station window and

14:27

paralyzed them, and his parents

14:29

just recently had to make the tough choice

14:32

of taking him off of a ventilator.

14:36

It's happening to a lot of people in

14:38

the city of Chicago all over, and

14:41

it's not just frustrating.

14:44

It's become a war zone. You

14:47

don't know if you're gonna you enter, you may not survive

14:49

and leave. It's

14:52

horrendous where you need

14:55

younger and younger killing

14:58

gun Why absolutely, you're

15:00

correct to ask that question,

15:03

and more importantly, why is the Cook County Prosecutors

15:05

Office letting people off the hook with a

15:07

slap on the wrist for doing serious

15:09

crimes creating more creaking, more havoc

15:11

in the communities. Now

15:13

I want to ask you. I've

15:16

read that your nephew, Demetrius,

15:18

he was murdered by other black

15:20

kids because he refused to join a gang.

15:23

But some have said in the media

15:26

that, um, they don't really know and

15:28

the case just remains unsolved.

15:31

Do you have any information as to

15:33

the motive of why this

15:35

would happen to your nephew.

15:38

No, I do not. It may know, it makes

15:40

it makes no sense because Demetrius,

15:44

he was fifteen, but he looked to be nine.

15:46

He was only ninety seven pounds. He was only

15:49

four nine in heights, so he was a little

15:51

for his age. He had a he had

15:53

a major problem with sitting in with

15:56

his age group. So because

15:59

he didn't he fit with them, he

16:01

played with kids that are younger than he

16:03

was because he

16:06

were more of their size. When he was growing up,

16:09

there's nothing that you could not knock

16:11

on my mother's door and

16:14

say, well, Demetrius

16:16

did this or Demetris did that. There

16:18

was nothing that you could knock on her doing to tell

16:21

her never had

16:23

any problems with Demetrius and stood never

16:25

had to go up there for

16:28

him, never

16:30

had I've never had up there with him.

16:33

When he got in high school. I'm the one that had him

16:35

in road. He was only

16:37

there two weeks. I've never got a call about

16:40

that because think

16:42

he did not play that. My thing

16:44

is Demetrius was a little bit scary because

16:46

he was smaller, and like

16:49

I said, he played with smaller kids because

16:52

of his weight and height. So

16:55

when they say that

16:57

they wanted him in a game, and

16:59

I my only thing that comes to my mind

17:02

is for what he can't do anything.

17:04

He's too scary and he know his t

17:07

t A is not going to play that. He

17:09

never drank he and he never

17:11

smoked any marijuana or didn't

17:13

even drug. So if they were trying to

17:15

recruit him, what would be the purpose

17:17

of recruiting him, and why, what

17:19

would be that purpose? And so that

17:22

because he's little work, you think he would

17:24

get off, but he wouldn't bloom again

17:26

we because he knows that's not what Lee is still

17:28

into him. We need to pause here for

17:30

a break. We will be back. You

17:38

know, it's it's one thing that kills some one, but this

17:40

was done in such a gruesome way, burning

17:43

Demetrius alive live, leaving him

17:45

to dine a garbage can in the alley.

17:49

This is just next level of torturous.

17:52

There was no one in his family that was involved

17:54

in anything that they were trying to um

17:57

to respond to and trying to get to my

18:00

that was beloved in your family. There was nothing

18:02

like that or anything, um that

18:04

you can think of that that possibly

18:06

could have occurred in

18:09

my immediate family. And as far

18:11

as I know, we have no gang members. And

18:14

if it is, it's something that I don't know. Um,

18:19

I don't have any brothers, so it's just me and my sister,

18:22

and I have a step sister, and

18:25

UM, my sons are not gang

18:27

related. My

18:30

sons don't even hang on the corner because they

18:32

know that. I don't allow that. I

18:37

cannot imagine what

18:42

it could have been, or I mean,

18:44

I've heard a bunch of things. I heard it. I've

18:46

heard it was gang

18:49

gang, you know, they wanted him to join a game. Then

18:51

I heard it was some some some um

18:54

skinheads. I heard something about

18:56

that, and

19:00

then somebody said he might have saw something.

19:05

None of it makes sense. Nothing

19:07

that you can say would make sense

19:10

to take someone life by burning

19:12

them alive. Nothing you

19:14

could say would make sense of

19:16

me hearing this kid

19:19

yelling for help and me not

19:21

doing anything. None of that

19:23

makes sense. Nowhere around does

19:26

that make sense. And

19:28

that's why. On the corner of Cortez and

19:30

Centrol there's a bench, there's

19:33

a big red cross, there's

19:35

a book box for books for children.

19:38

We keep that corner clean because you're

19:41

gonna remember that this kid

19:43

was over here and you said nothing.

19:48

We make it clean. I keep it clean,

19:50

I weeds. I keep that clean.

19:52

So children can go and sit on that

19:54

bench, they can get in a

19:57

book out that book box. They

20:00

can feel comfortable sitting right there on

20:04

that corner. Nothing

20:07

of it, no, nothing makes sense. All

20:11

is killing, moll is shooting, shooting

20:13

up in the air. What would be the purpose of that. Get

20:16

a job. My grandmother her

20:19

in her grade now because she is

20:21

on a plantation, and what we had to go

20:23

through to be where we are now, and

20:26

then look pulling on that back from us. Yes,

20:29

and I absolutely agree with

20:31

what you're saying, do you

20:33

feel any level of frustration with the law enforcement

20:36

or the politicians that

20:38

were around during this time. I think Rama Manuel's

20:41

in office during this era. Yes,

20:43

I do. The

20:46

superintendent at that time and

20:48

the mayor at that time, we

20:50

contact them thirty days. I had

20:53

thirty days of confirmation numbers where

20:55

I had called three one one. We have yet

20:57

to hear from either one of them. Are

20:59

you here? Is I

21:02

kid you not? Let me tell you just

21:05

I just want to make sure I'm hearing you right, you're saying

21:07

Mayor Rama Manuel and

21:10

the superintendent of police at that time.

21:12

Neither one of them followed up with you there.

21:14

Their office is no one touch base.

21:17

No, we've never heard from that.

21:19

And at that time I did contact Kim Fox's

21:21

office because I just needed

21:24

some help or where to the county

21:26

prosecutor. Kim Fox is who you're referring to, and

21:29

I was told that they couldn't do anything until

21:31

there's an arrest. They couldn't help me until

21:35

there was an arrest. That's what

21:37

I was told by them. I

21:40

sent a letter to the White House to

21:42

our former president. I

21:45

got a letter back. I didn't send a letter requesting

21:49

any money from him.

21:51

I needed some help. I needed help. I

21:54

didn't know. I don't I don't know what to do. This is the

21:56

first this, this is the first trinity

21:58

in our family. I don't know what to do. I

22:00

need help. I sent back.

22:02

Then I got a letter back from the White

22:05

House. Then they don't do donation.

22:07

That's not what I asked you for. I asked

22:09

you for help because at that

22:11

point, we didn't know if

22:14

it was a serial killer out here, because

22:16

who does that to a young person,

22:19

a child? So we didn't know if

22:21

it was a serial killer out here. We've

22:24

had a go find me page, We've

22:26

had that open too. I

22:29

did get a foundation set up for him

22:32

to help with maybe

22:34

getting detectives, just to

22:37

help with the justice for that, and

22:39

then to try to help other young people. Barry

22:44

ten thousand dollars, and

22:46

five of that came from Laura. Laura Ingram

22:49

donated to the to the foundation.

22:52

Yeah, yes she did. She she donated

22:54

five thousand dollars. But

22:58

my my, my mom always say

23:00

you have and and and

23:03

and I'm not I'm not a racist

23:05

person or anything like that. And

23:08

I know people donate to things that they want

23:10

to donate to. And I

23:12

just you have. My mom was

23:14

very upset because the

23:16

two little girls that came up missing

23:19

in Indiana. And

23:22

my heart went out Today's family because I know

23:24

how they felt. I know how the family

23:26

felt, because you know, we've lost

23:28

our loved one too. But her thing was

23:30

is that they had got the FBI

23:33

and and then they had got

23:36

all of this money from I guess the state,

23:38

and here he is. We're out here,

23:41

we're passing out flyers. Were having

23:43

fund raisers on Mother's

23:45

Day. We stand out there on the corner. We give out Mother's

23:47

Day guilt, to give out Father's Day gifts. We

23:50

have a um A

23:52

community block club every

23:54

year for the kids. We give our book bags and clothes

23:57

and persons and thinks of that nature.

23:59

They have or found that they have um

24:02

A college thing at at New

24:04

Mount Pilgen, where Demitrian was a member. We give

24:06

out stuff, look the kids that are going

24:08

away to college. We do all of that. And

24:11

it seems as though that because

24:14

of the color of his skin, this

24:16

is her feeling and I and I

24:19

understand, she seemed

24:21

like it's being fresh um

24:24

brushed up under the rug because it doesn't

24:26

get that same priority toy

24:29

and part of the reason for that,

24:31

and this was very gruesome um

24:34

event, obviously, the murder of

24:36

your nephew. Chicago.

24:40

The politicians there, and I'm sure you would

24:42

agree, have completely failed the citizens.

24:44

And it's become a weekly or daily

24:47

occurrence of bullets

24:50

piercing through skin and

24:52

that's all it is to them, it seems to be, so why

24:54

do why is it that people continue to support

24:57

the same the Kim Fox, the Lordy

25:00

life to the world, the ones who aren't

25:02

making a difference. Is these politicians?

25:04

Why do people continue to support them

25:07

in the city of Chicago knowing that they have not gotten any

25:09

results. Could it possibly be not

25:11

necessarily that they're getting

25:14

so much support. Is that so

25:16

many people are desensipized

25:19

and they don't support at all. So that makes

25:21

the small amount

25:23

that do support things so

25:26

large because there are so many people that

25:29

do not vote. There

25:31

are so many people that do not vote.

25:34

Because I talked to people that have not voted.

25:37

My vote don't make no difference. But

25:39

how you know your vote don't make no different Your

25:42

one vote could be the vote that made the difference.

25:46

They feel that there is no change, They

25:49

feel that things are still gonna

25:51

be the same. It's going to be the

25:53

same thing. There's going to be people making

25:55

decisions for low income people

25:58

that are not low income. There's

26:01

a there's people making decisions

26:04

for people that have five

26:06

and six people living in their households

26:09

and they're living in a mansion. They

26:13

want people to make decisions

26:16

that live the life that they live. You

26:19

go on the West side of Chicago, you

26:22

can ride down Madison Street. Tell

26:24

me how many groceries, schools

26:27

for food markets you see

26:29

in the black neighborhoods. Yeah,

26:32

their food, their food, deserts. You

26:34

got corncus need I

26:37

mean, what restaurants do

26:39

you have? I mean they

26:42

feel that you're taking away

26:45

everything from them, So why

26:47

should they vote. It won't make a difference.

26:49

We're talking to Rochelle's Sykes, who's fifteen year

26:51

old nephew was tragically murdered in Chicago,

26:54

who got much more with her on the unsolved

26:56

case. In the violence in Chicago more

26:58

broadly, right after break it's

27:03

not making sense at all the policy decisions

27:05

that are being made. It's not making sense, and it's

27:07

actually making so many

27:10

other people in the community

27:12

less safe in the city of Chicago.

27:15

It's it's beyond troubling,

27:17

is disgusting, and I wish things

27:19

could could change, but it doesn't seem

27:21

as though there's been as much

27:23

value on the black lives that matter and

27:26

the folks who just like you mentioned you

27:28

said, hey, these people are if you're walking down the

27:30

street with a gun, that someone needs to call the

27:33

police, if you know who the shoot is,

27:35

they need to be turned in. Those black

27:37

lives matter, and if

27:40

you if you don't, If you don't, then you're

27:42

obviously saying, um, the antithesis

27:44

of it that they don't matter in that case.

27:46

So it really needs to be outraged

27:48

full scale, not just with the

27:51

people like you who you're you had

27:53

this beloved nephew who died in

27:55

a very gruesome way, who was murdered in a grucive

27:58

way. But everyone needs to live their

28:00

voice up. It needs to be a complete

28:02

community that refused

28:05

to capitulate to the gang members who want

28:07

to take over their neighborhoods. Absolutely,

28:11

would you would you agree with that? I agree

28:13

with that, And then they shouldn't have to

28:15

live in their house and be afraid that if

28:17

I turned you in, they're gonna

28:19

tell you I turned you in, and then they're

28:21

coming after me or I turned

28:23

you in and you get to court and because the system

28:26

is over proud, and they let you go, which

28:28

has happened a number of times in Cook

28:30

County, especially in the Cook County Jail

28:33

during the COVID area. A lot of folks

28:35

were let out who went on to commit

28:37

crimes. And that's not just in Cook County, but that's

28:39

across the country. People were let out and they went

28:42

on to commit other crimes, including killing people.

28:45

You know, I want to ask you, because I know you're

28:47

a woman of faith and

28:50

you work for the new Mount Pilgrim

28:52

Church in Chicago, how

28:54

is your faith factored into how you've dealt

28:56

with demetrius death. That's

28:58

the only thing that had count me. Um

29:02

I Um

29:04

was once asked and

29:08

I had to look at myself and I

29:10

did What did I forgive the person

29:14

that killed the Matris? And I have to be honest,

29:17

Even though I believe in God, I know God as ahead

29:19

of my life, I don't

29:21

forgive them. I feel

29:23

sorry for them because there has to

29:25

be something seriously wrong with you

29:28

to do what you did and be

29:30

able to sleep at night, because like I said,

29:32

I haven't slept in five years. I

29:35

leapt straight through a night in five years.

29:37

I can hear it that look what calling my name?

29:41

I can hear him calling. So

29:43

I feel sorry for you because

29:46

there's no way you can be resting,

29:49

and for everybody that hurts him and didn't

29:51

say nothing. There's no way you could be wrestling. I

29:53

wasn't there and I ain't resting. But if it

29:55

wasn't for God, I don't think I would

29:57

have bade it through this far. I don't even

30:00

sit on that corner, poor weeds. I

30:02

don't think I could put the events together. That's

30:05

God in me, and I knew

30:07

that this outcome has something, something

30:09

bigger. I don't know what it is,

30:11

but I know it does. Now. What would you

30:13

tell Demetrius if you can speak to him

30:15

today, in this moment. I'm sorry

30:18

T T let you down. I am so

30:21

sorry because I

30:23

always told him I would take care of him.

30:26

I always told if you t T will always

30:28

be here for him. And I feel like

30:30

I have failed him, and

30:32

I would I. I just would say

30:34

I am so sorry

30:37

because you had to be through some

30:39

tremendous pain for

30:42

that to happen to you, and I am

30:44

sorry. And if if

30:46

I could trade places with him. I would

30:48

trade places with him right down,

30:51

because I don't know what he had was

30:53

capable that could have been the next

30:55

president. I am sorry.

30:58

I would I am so sorry, And if

31:00

I could trade places, I would trade places

31:02

like I would beg he ever looked

31:05

to just take me and let

31:07

him go. That is very tough to hear.

31:10

But I can tell you right now you did not fail

31:12

your nephew, not one bit. And

31:15

I'm sure if he was here, he would thank

31:17

you for continuing to fight on in his name,

31:20

like there's so many other young people in Chicago

31:22

who lost their lives and

31:25

they didn't have Rochelle

31:27

Sykes too, to chase

31:30

down the police if you will, to try to

31:32

get answers and work with politicians

31:35

to try to get something done, solve

31:37

solve this, this hainous,

31:39

hainous crime. So I'm sure he

31:41

would be thankful for you

31:43

being there for him and in the family

31:45

as you have been. Thank

31:48

you. Yeah, but it

31:51

hurts so bad, I mean especially

31:54

I don't know if it's the not knowing or

31:57

do I really want enough? And

32:02

I just my heart hurts to

32:04

see all these young babies, you

32:07

know, they don't know one day

32:09

from another riding in the back of a car, and

32:12

the next thing you know, they're

32:14

they're they're dead. I mean, you've

32:16

got all these young mothers and fathers

32:18

and I don't know where the term because

32:21

you know you you took in my

32:24

breath away. You took in my breath

32:26

away. I mean, to give

32:28

birth to a child, it's not an easy thing,

32:31

and deniting raising one is even harder.

32:33

And then someone else that has no care

32:36

about life just can

32:39

walk past and take all of that away

32:41

from a person when

32:44

they killed. Do they know how prominent

32:46

that is. You're

32:48

hurting the person you killed, You're

32:53

hurting all the other people who left behind,

32:56

even your own family when

32:59

they catch you. You got

33:02

Mama at the courthouse crying, Grandma

33:04

at the courthouse crying. We got cousins

33:06

and stuff, gotta send you money, with money

33:09

on your books, you

33:12

got the person that was murdered. Family

33:15

don't know how to put stuff together, don't know

33:17

how to get it together. I

33:20

don't want how to make decisions from that

33:22

moment forward, because all

33:24

they knew was their child, their

33:26

grandchild, their cousin, their nephews.

33:31

They need to know the

33:34

extent of that one

33:37

decision that they made. It's

33:39

not hurting that person you killed, it's

33:41

hurting me everybody else because

33:43

now this community is to us. Now,

33:46

this lady get to go to the grocery store to

33:48

get her groceries because somebody

33:51

killed somebody on the corner. Now

33:53

you've got a whole lady that I

33:55

can't get food in her own home. He

33:58

had to go sit on her porch, can't stay play

34:00

out in the streets. Something's

34:03

gotta give. We

34:06

gotta stand off of something because we're

34:08

falling down for everything. Yes,

34:11

ma'am, do you think you've ever run for public office?

34:14

No, I'm

34:17

honest. I'm

34:20

honest, and unfortunately I might not

34:22

have a good filter owner on

34:25

my mouth, but I'm honest. I'm

34:27

gonna tell it like it is. If it ain't right,

34:30

it ain't right. Yes, ma'am,

34:33

and and and and I'm with

34:35

you. And I want to thank

34:37

you for sharing demetrius

34:40

story. And as you fight on,

34:43

um, I definitely want my

34:45

listeners to be involved

34:47

in the fight with you. So if you will

34:50

let us know where can people donate or

34:52

help in other ways to find justice for

34:54

Demetrius. Well,

34:56

Um, they can go into any

34:58

US banks and give them

35:01

justice for Demetrius Griffin Jr.

35:04

He has an account set up there. UM

35:06

there's also a god funding

35:09

page. We would love to

35:11

have a a

35:13

community youth center where we

35:15

teach life skills till

35:18

UM ages five to eighteen, help

35:20

them apply for college and make sure they get into

35:22

make sure they get a g D. If they need

35:24

tutoring, if they need counseling. To

35:27

um help provide

35:30

all of that for them. Um,

35:32

they can do that, or they can

35:34

just if they want to just send a check

35:37

they can always then one to New Mount Pilgrim

35:40

Missionary Baptist Church, but make

35:42

it out to Justice for Demetrius and

35:45

the addresses forty three oh one

35:47

West Washington Boulevard, Chicago,

35:50

Illinois, six o six

35:52

to food. They can do

35:55

either you those and anything

35:58

will help. And its Metrius,

36:01

uh and you want to spell it for folks how

36:03

its spelled out? D E M

36:05

E, T R I E S and

36:09

Griffin g R I F F I

36:11

N jor Okay, Well, we're gonna

36:14

be praying for you certainly, and

36:16

and and hope people donate to

36:18

the to the cause especially, but we

36:21

really appreciate your strength. I'm

36:23

certain that your nephew is really, really

36:26

thankful for what you've been able to do in keeping

36:28

the family together and keeping his memory well

36:31

and alive. Thank you so much for joining

36:33

me on out Live with Gianna called well Okay,

36:36

thank you so much. I

36:50

want to thank with your fights again for a powerful

36:52

interview. If you enjoying the show, please

36:54

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37:17

And if you're interested in learning more about my story,

37:20

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37:27

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