'He was a gift': Family of man killed inside his home on Milwaukee's north side speaks out

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The family of a man who was murdered in his own home on Milwaukee's north side March 23 is speaking out, asking the community for help.

"I still feel like it's unreal, I still feel like I'm in a movie because we see that type of stuff on TV, where detectives knock on your door at 3 o' clock in the morning and tell the family that they've lost a loved one," said Leslie Steward, with tears streaming down her face. "I would've never thought that would've been me."

Steward told CBS 58 News she recalled the moment homicide detectives knocked on her door to deliver some devastating news early morning on Sunday, March 24.

"My baby brothers are everything to me, they're like my kids," she said. "They pulled out a phone and they showed me a picture and said, 'do you know this person?' And it was my baby brother."

Her baby brother, 42-year-old Terrell Steward, was shot and killed on Saturday, March 23, sometime before 8 p.m. in his own home, near 39th and Stark Street. Milwaukee police said he sustained a fatal gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.

"My uncle, he was a party animal, he loved to have fun," said Aerion Steward. "He was a huge jokester, he loved to dance, a lot of people called him 'crazy legs''...it's kind of, you know, hard to prepare a loved one for a homegoing and you're still lost on what happened."

He said his uncle was a father figure to himself, and to Terrell's own two kids.

"You rob them, you rob their family, you rob the community, you rob the world, 'cause he, he was a gift," Aerion Steward said.

The motive for the death is still unknown. Milwaukee police said that as of Monday, April 1, no one was in custody.

"I believe it could've been targeted," he said. "At the balloon release, we was able to get into the building, we did not see no force of entry to his apartment, no broken windows, so it was like, it wasn't no invasion."

The family said they will not get closure until they find justice.

"I'm only 29 and to see so many people, so many of my friends and loved ones go by gun violence, it's not like it's natural causes, it hit different," he added.

The Steward family has set up a fundraiser to help with funeral expenses. If you would like to support, click here.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Milwaukee police at 414-935-7360, or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS or the P3 Tips app.