KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A teenager who was shot in Kalamazoo Wednesday afternoon has died.
Shortly before 3 p.m., officers with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety responded to an alley in the area of Stockbridge Avenue near James Street after several calls of a person shot.
When they arrived, KDPS officers found a 17-year-old in an alleyway who had been shot in the head. They gave him emergency medical care then took him to the hospital where he died from his injuries. Police and the victim’s mother have identified him as Markii Jerrell Robinson Jr.
Thursday morning, KDPS said officers found the suspect vehicle around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in Richland Township and someone tried to burn it. The vehicle was reported stolen.
Anyone with information is asked to call the KDPS Criminal Investigation Division at 269.337.8139 or Silent Observer at 269.343.2100.
Robinson Jr.’s mother, Chintae Williams, said her son was and shot and killed shortly after he got off the bus. He was going on a walk he goes on every day, she said.
“He takes this walk everyday down the alley. Every single day, and this is what I have to live with,” said Williams.
“He will always be remembered, I will represent him as if he’s still here. And I can’t really say right now that I feel that he’s not because it’s not real right now,” said Williams.
She said her son worked five days a week, was a straight a student and a wonderful young man.
“He was responsible. He was respectful. He was encouraging. He did whatever he needed to do. He took the weight off of my shoulders when I was weighed down,” she said.
Williams also has a message for people living in the Kalamazoo community.
“I am going through a lot right now. But I definitely have a second to take to tell ya’ll, life gets better. We have to encourage these young men to be the best young men that they can be because nobody else is going to encourage them to do that,” she said.
Robinson Jr.’s shooting death is still under investigation.
Wednesday evening, a News 8 crew at the scene saw multiple KDPS squad vehicles and a forensics crime lab on scene. Officers had set up crime scene tape in the front yards of three homes.
James Street was blocked off from Stockbridge Avenue to Sara Street following the shooting and there were evidence markers in the nearby alleyway.
Police did not immediately release any information about what led up to the shooting.
Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Williams’ first name. We regret the error, which has since been corrected.
