DETROIT (WXYZ) — "He loved everybody, we loved him," said Katon Early of this older cousin, Demarco.
It was a love that was hard to miss Saturday night, as dozens showed up with white and blue balloons and candles to say goodbye to the newlywed, who family said just happened to walk into a gas station at the wrong time.
Jalana Early said her husband Demarco was supposed to be right back.
“I woke back up and realized it had been 45 minutes and he haven’t came back yet," she told Action News.
The couple lives less than a block away from the Mobil gas station at Fenkell and Greenfield. Jalana, seeing crime scene tape, immediately called her husband’s phone. Her heart dropped when she heard it ring.
“I realized the officer had it.”
A man was having an apparent mental breakdown inside the gas station. Police said he shot Demarco several times, and then turned the gun on himself.
“We’re going to deal with the sorrow tomorrow. But now, we’re going to celebrate my son," said Demarco's father Rickey Williams.
Loved ones said Demarco was a man of family, and faith.
Dozens return to the gas station on Fenkell and Greenfield where 36-year-old Demarco Early was killed Monday morning, to celebrate his life and say goodbye. “He loved everybody, so we loved him,” says his cousin Katon @wxyzdetroit @tv20detroit @CrimeInTheD pic.twitter.com/glU1iu1Wi6
— Jenn Schanz (@JennSchanzWXYZ) February 2, 2020
“Every man or woman would like to know that their children are loved and respected. You look around here, you don’t see nothing but love and respect for Demarco," Williams told Action News.
Saturday’s vigil, while a celebration of a life taken too soon, was also a somber reminder for some of senseless gun violence, which on Monday morning, took an innocent life.
“People out here just solving problems by guns. I had a child murdered too. So I definitely feel the pain," said Karen Runner, a family friend.
The family has created a Go Me Page to help pay for funeral costs.
