Rest In Peace messages fill up James Elridge’s Facebook page. Many friends still cannot believe he left this earth so soon. The 28-year-old was involved in an accident on 7 Mile near the Southfield Freeway just before 8 p.m. Saturday.
Police discovered two people riding in a white Ford Focus had been shot before crashing into two other vehicles.
One of those people was Eldridge, a popular party promoter. He was a passenger in the back seat of the Focus, driven by a woman who was also killed.
“She was a real sweet person,” said the female victim’s neighbor Anthony Ivory. “She was a real good mother to her child. She would, you know, take her daughter to school everyday."
Detroit police believe the victims were shot while they were traveling either on the Southfield Freeway in the southbound direction or the service drive. They crashed moments after turning on to 7 Mile.
“I was shocked,” said Ivory. “We were just talking about violence in the city and country and for something like this to happen just so close to home, you know, is really unimaginable. I’ve been up all night thinking about it.”
Police are looking for another male passenger who escaped minutes after the accident. He is not believed to be the gunman but investigators are not sure who is behind the murders.
“I hope they are caught and brought to justice because it’s just senseless,” said Ivory. “We’re just killing each other for no reason. It’s senseless.”
