Darnell Smith, 20, was shot and killed one year ago, but his memory and his family’s fight for justice are still very much alive.
The victim's family said Smith had spent the evening at the beach with other family members and was going to visit his aunt in Emerald Hills June 14, 2008. But he never made it there. Smith was shot a few feet away at the house next door. Paramedics tried to revive him, but he died 15 minutes later.
Friends and family describe the 20-year-old as a good man who didn't deserve what happened. He was a former Mt. Miguel high school student, a Mesa college student and worked for Cox Cable.
Saturday night they held a vigil and pleaded with the community to help them find answers.
“Sometimes it feels like he's still here and I know he's not. But I just miss him a lot,” Smith’s stepmother Francis Jones said.
His family says someone out there knows something and they just want this case closed.
“You’ve got to face up to your actions, if you know something, then speak on it," Smith’s friend Cory Torrengano said.
If you have any information, you're asked to call Crimestoppers.
