SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) -- Crime Stoppers is offering a $2,500 reward as a grieving mother pleads for information about the murder of a teenage boy at a Southfield hotel.
Early in the morning of February 11 of this year, five unsupervised teens were partying at the Westin Hotel, on Town Center near Northwestern Hwy., when 15-year-old Tyler Johnson of Ferndale was shot in the head.
Police responded, and Johnson was taken to a local hospital where he died a few days later.
Initially, police said investigators found a 15-year-old Detroit teen with two guns (pictured below) in his waistband, including a stolen Glock with an extended magazine, at the scene. That teen was arrested and charged with two weapons counts, but he has not been charged in connection with Johnson's killing.
Since that time, further circumstances surrounding the shooting have not been fully understood.
Speaking to WWJ's Jon Hewett and other reporters on Wednesday, Johnson's mother, Tomika Alexander, questioned why the adult who booked the hotel room, and then didn't stay as they should have, isn't in any kind of trouble.
She said if she would have known that the kids would be left unsupervised, she could have come to pick up her son.
Alexander said her son's friends and their parents have failed her as they have lawyered up, and are not speaking to police.
"I don't understand how a sleepover with friends end up with my son bring murdered and no one knows who did it," Alexander said.
"...It's like, this is OK for my son to be murdered, and no killer has been brought to justice? This is not OK,"
Asked if this could have been accidental shooting, Alexander said if that was the case, it would have been solved by now. She said her son, an innocent child, was murdered.
"My son is a great kid, he's only 15. He's a baby... He didn't even get to celebrate his 16th birthday. I had to have a balloon release," the mother said.
"We need justice for Tyler and we need people to speak up, and speak up now."
As for police, they say it's not that necessarily that they don't know who did it, it's that witnesses aren't talking.
"I had a chance just a bit ago to speak with Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren about this case. He tells me the investigation remains ongoing, but one of the challenges has been that all of the other teens on hand that night, or early morning, have retained legal counsel and are not cooperating," Hewett reported. "This case is before the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, but remains in a bit of a limbo."
Anyone who knows anything about this shooting is urged to help by making an anonymous call to Crime Stoppers at 1-800 SPEAK-UP (800-773-2587), or submit information online at this link.
Remember: All those who contact Crime Stoppers will remain 100% anonymous and will not be required to speak to police or to testify in court. Rewards are paid after an arrest is made; they do not wait for a conviction.
Tipsters may also contact the Southfield Police Department directly at 248- 796-5500 and reference case number 24-5073.