Family of 15-year-old shot dead seeks answers

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan – Fifteen-year-old Amillier Penn was playing football with friends in the 400 block of Umatilla Street when he was fatally shot June 2.

While police are still searching for those responsible, his family is aware of what a kind person he was.

Bardha Kurti and her daughter Rina Lanning, Penn’s cousins, said he came to their home over Memorial Day weekend and they never thought it would be the last time they saw him.

“I remember holding him when he was a baby,” Lanning said. “He was a hard worker. He saved up for driver’s ed and started learning to drive. It’s just sad that he won’t finish that.”

Kurti and Lanning said Penn loved his family and cared for his mother, grandparents and sisters.

“It will take hours or days to talk about what a sweet and kind boy he was,” Kurti said.

They said Penn loved basketball and was excited about the next chapter of his life, which began in 11th grade.

“He was always at home with his mother,” Lanning said. “His mother has a right to the truth. So do his sisters and his stepfather and our whole family.”

Penn’s maternal family is from Albania. Kurti and Lanning said they have a small but close-knit family in the U.S., of which Penn is a big part.

Lanning said her family in Albania and other parts of Europe were “desperate.”

“The mother had already booked a Disney trip,” Kurti said. “Now she’s preparing for her son’s funeral and it’s just very sad.”

Penn’s family wants those responsible to come forward and recognize that their actions have cost an innocent life.

“Turn yourself in,” Kurti said. “Make it easy for those involved and please don’t hurt anyone else. We don’t want anyone else to get hurt and no one, no other family, to have to suffer our pain.”

“If you know anything, please tell us, because no one deserves to die and especially not the way they were killed. This has to stop,” Kurti said.

Anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of those responsible for the shooting can contact Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345 or the Grand Rapids Police Department.

The family has also set up a GoFundMe page to help cover funeral expenses.

► Stay up to date with more stories like this easily. Download the “13 ON YOUR SIDE” app now.

Do you have a news tip? E-Mail [email protected]visit our Facebook site or ÞjórsárdenSubscribe to our Youtube channel.

Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV StickApple TV and on your phone.