SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — Loved ones of Sonja Bruner, 58, gathered at Detroit's Mount Elliot Park to remember her as a loving mother and grandmother. They're demanding answers about what happened outside of a Southfield restaurant on Friday.
Bruner's relatives released balloons in her memory and shared with 7 News Detroit the kind of person she was.
Her niece, Verkeydia Hall, said, “She lived life. She raised her children and was very active in raising her grandchildren. She loved her family. That’s who she was.”
Southfield police said the Inkster resident was shot and killed during an argument in the TGI Fridays parking lot in Southfield late Friday night.
He family said she met with members of her slingshot group. It's a three-wheeled open-air vehicle she loved to drive. In the wake of the tragedy, disturbing videos of the deadly shooting began circulating online. It's prompted a desperate plea from her family for the videos to be taken down.
Hall said, “I would like to ask that no one else share. Before you share the worst moment of somebody’s life, I would like for you to just stop and think about who can see this. Can her mother see this? Her sister? Her grandchildren?”
Investigators said both Bruner and the suspect held valid concealed pistol licenses and "that firearms were displayed during a verbal altercation". However, Bruner’s family isn’t convinced she ever pulled out her weapon.
Police said two bystanders, a 54-year-old man from Detroit and a 42-year-old woman from Georgia, were also injured by gunfire. They're expected to be okay. Investigators said the suspect, a 35-year-old man from Southfield, was taken into custody.
For Bruner’s mother, Gwendolyn Taylor, the grief is compounded by heartbreak and a fierce demand for accountability.
Taylor said, “She was just out there enjoying herself, having a good time, and a person took her life. That was cruel and wrong. She wasn’t trying to hurt nobody.”
She added, “You didn’t have to shoot her like a dog, and I want justice done. I want justice done. I want him to hang for what he did to my child. He took my child from me.”
Bruner’s sister, Valesia Waddell Crump, said no one appeared to be trying to de-escalate the situation.
“I want everybody who was involved in it held accountable," she said.
The tragedy cuts even deeper for a family already weathering unimaginable sorrow. Bruner lost her husband of over 40 years, Stacy Bruner Sr., in June 2025, and their son, Stacy Jr., a veteran, in December.
Hall said, “We have been through such unimaginable pain, and the world really just expects everybody to keep moving regardless of the grief and the things that you’re dealing with.”
Questions also linger around the circumstances leading up to the shooting, including online commentary from Detroit police commissioner Lavish Williams, who hosted the biker event.
Williams declined an on-camera interview with 7 News Detroit. He said he wants the Southfield police investigation to play out first. In his post online, he wrote, in part, "...I sincerely apologize that you had to experience this. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and everyone affected by this tragedy."
In an updated news release Monday evening, Southfield police said:
Following a thorough investigation, the Southfield Police Department submitted a warrant request to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office on Sunday, September 6, 2026, for a review and charging determination.
The Southfield Police Department cannot continue to hold the suspect solely while awaiting that prosecutorial determination. Therefore, the suspect was released today, Monday, September 7, 2026, pending the prosecutorial review.
The warrant request remains with the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office for review. The
prosecutor will determine whether criminal charges will be authorized and, if so, what charges are appropriate based upon the evidence and applicable law.
