DETROIT (WWJ) – As 2021 draws to a close, Crime Stoppers of Michigan is trying to put unsolved murders in the spotlight.
Among those murders in the spotlight is Casey Willis, an 18-year-old student at Wayne State University who was killed the day after Christmas 2020.
Authorities say Willis was sitting in a car with her friend in the 18000 block of Cardoni Street, near Nevada Avenue in the Greenfield Park neighborhood on the city’s northeast side.
Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $8,000 for tips that lead to the arrest of the person who killed Willis.
Willis’s case is one of several cases in the Crime Stoppers spotlight with a common thread – each victim having been fatally shot while sitting in their vehicles in Detroit over the last year.
Others include 21-year-old Devin George, who was shot last January and 44-year-old Jeris Woods in September, as well as others.
George was on his way home from the gas station when he was shot on Ohio Street on the city’s southwest side on Jan. 23. Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $45,000 for an arrest in his case.
A cash reward of up to $2,500 is being offered in the case of Woods, a father of 13 who was killed while sitting in his red Jeep back in September. Authorities say the shooting took place in the area of Elmira Street and Wyoming Avenue, near I-96, on the city's west side.
Anthony Jones of Crime Stoppers said at a press conference Wednesday “silence is killing us.”
“We need families, we need friends, we need associates, we need those parties that make themselves guilty because of knowledge of the shootings to stand up, speak up and cease the silence,” Jones said.
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Anyone with information about any of the murders can submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-SPEAK-UP or at 1800speakup.org.
“No caller-ID, no recording, IP addresses do not show up. You receive a cash tip where you still cannot give your name,” Jones said.
All tipsters will remain anonymous and will receive their rewards when an arrest is made.
Crime Stoppers says they’ve received more than 33,000 anonymous tips since 2015 and paid out more than $500,000 in rewards.
More information on these and other Crime Stoppers cases can be found on the Crime Stoppers website.