(WWJ) While children rode ponies and licked cotton candy; loved ones said goodbye to a six-year-old Warren boy in a public memorial service happening decades too soon.
Over 100 people gathered at the Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre on the Detroit riverfront Saturday to celebrate the life of Tai’raz Moore.
Warren Police say Tai’raz was killed “execution-style,” along with his father’s girlfriend, at his father’s home on Otis Street, in the area of 9 Mile and Dequindre, on October 1.
"The house had been ransacked and, in the basement, they found the woman and the boy,” Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer told WWJ. “Both were killed by shotgun blasts to the head.”
Tai’raz’ father was found dead in a burnt-out car in Detroit on the same day.
However; the little boy’s family said they wanted to celebrate the joy he brought to the world, rather than focus on the horrific manner of his death.
His family invited children across Metro Detroit to enjoy a petting zoo, train rides, carnival games, popcorn, cotton candy and more outside the memorial service.
Meanwhile; loved ones sat six feet apart on the stage and took the microphone one by one to share memories.
Tai’raz’ sister, Madison, 10, described him as both her “big brother and little brother" in a video of the service captured by FOX 2.
“I loved him so much,” Madison said. “We used to play this, and then we played outside, just played. Yeah, he was my favorite person in the world.”
The Detroit Youth Choir, who earned second place on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” headlined the memorial service.
The Detroit News reported how Tai’raz’ mother recounted one of her last conversations with her son; how he was looking forward to taking out his loose tooth the next day. That next day, she said, “never came.”
Police say they are a step closer to getting justice for Tai’raz.
Nicholas Raad Bahri, 37, of West Bloomfield was taken into custody a week after the crime. He has been charged with more than a dozen felonies in connection with the killings, including three counts of first degree pre-meditated murder.
Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer said the motive for the killings of Tai’raz; Isis Rimson, 28; and Tukoyo Moore, 31, was “drugs and money.”
Macomb County Prosecutors are asking federal prosecutors to review if Bahri could possibly face the death penalty for this case.
"I have talked to the U.S. attorney also, Mr. Schneider, Matthew Schneider. I've talked about this before as far as possibly taking this person under criminal capital offense. Mr. Schneider is monitoring the case very closely,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer called the crime “truly evil, and unthinkable” and among the worst he has seen in his decades-long career.
A GoFund Me Page, set up by Tai’raz’ grandmother to help the family with funeral and burial expenses, has raised close to $34,000.
“Tairaz was a vibrant little boy who loved to laugh and tease,” his grandmother wrote on the GoFund Me. “He will be dearly missed. Our hearts are broken, and our souls are empty without him.”
Related
Related
Related
Related
