Crime Stoppers: Parents want justice after son murdered in suspected robbery gone wrong

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Milwaukee couple, no strangers to gun violence, was met with the ultimate blow this summer after someone shot their son to death. 

"Just because you live in the hood and grew up in the hood, don't mean you're hood. It should give you a little more push to want to get out of the hood," said Katina Shaw, victim's mother. 

For Katina and Jermaine Shaw, it was their son -- Jamar -- who pushed them to get out. 

"I wanted a better life for my son," said Kativa. 

With determination, they gave little Jamar just that. 

"We learned along the way, but we were always present," said Kativa. 

While his wife climbed the corporate ladder to become a vice president, Jermaine started a trucking business after working at the same job for decades. 

"I left a job of 25 years to start a business because I wanted to leave my son something and now it's just like, 'What? Why?'" said Jermaine. 

Every photo I have of him, he has a smile on his face from the time he was born until the last photo he took," said Katina. 

After years of sacrifice, Katina and Jermaine Shaw have found themselves back in 53206, on the corner of 1st and Keefe, where Jamar was murdered a month before his 29th birthday. 

"Seeing some of the blood splatter on the street where they tried to clean it up...it was just hurtful," said Jermaine. "It's been rough since June 7, when the detectives came to the door." 

Katina and Jermaine Shaw

"It just feels like we are living in a nightmare we can't wake up from," Katina said. "We are still in disbelief. We just keep playing that day that it happened over and over in our minds."

It was around 5:25 p.m., when Milwaukee police detectives say they found Jamar Shaw laying outside of his white Buick Enclave. The exact address is 135 E. Keefe Avenue -- an apartment building. 

An Uber driver and neighbors tried to save his life after witnesses say three men chased him while firing 14 gunshots -- five of them hit Shaw. 

"We believe it could have been a robbery that had gone bad," said Milwaukee Police Department Detective Michael Braunreiter. 

Jamar's parents say they talked to him every day, and he was focused on taking care of his girlfriend, their two kids, and stepchildren. 

"It takes every fiber in me to get out of bed every day. To go to work, to be around my grandkids. It takes every ounce of me to get out of bed every day. But I know he would want me to keep going," said Katina.

What keeps them going is determination -- this time to get justice. They're hoping a $20,000 reward will be enough to make someone come forward. 

"This could be your family, quit protecting these perpetrators who are terrorizing neighborhoods. Taking men away from their kids, their parents, their family. That's not okay. I wouldn't wish this on anybody," said Katina. 

The family is handing out fliers to people with similar stories. Year after year, many of Milwaukee's shooting victims are Black men. Dreams cut short over nothing. 

"In 1999, I lost my brother to gun violence, so I watched my mother go through this. And I never thought in a million years, history will repeat itself," said Katina. "Enough is enough. Too many of our Black and brown men are dying every day."  

Like Jamar, who dreamed of and was planning to open a smoke shop on North Avenue. 

"Seeing him become a man put a smile on my face and they robbed me, they robbed us of that, and it hurts. I'm angry," said Jermaine. 

While he didn't get the chance to live out his life as a business owner, what Katina and Jermaine will not let their son become in death is a statistic whose case gets colder and colder. 

"He was brought up from a very decent family and so it's our job to advocate for him, it's our job to make sure justice is served for him. If we have to hit the pavement, march, put out flyers, do what we have to do we will do it until the person who did this is charged and being punished for what they did," said Katina. 

If you know anything about who killed Jamar Shaw at the apartment on 1st and Keefe, call Milwaukee Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS. 

You can also submit a tip through the P3 Tips App. If your tip leads to an arrest, you get cash.