CLEVELAND (WJW) – Family and friends of an young man who was murdered on Cleveland‘s east side are pleading with the public for help catching his killer.
They told FOX 8 Tuesday that they are certain there is surveillance video of the shooting, but people are too afraid to give it to police.
Trevon Buchannan, 22, was visiting with old friends on E. 154th Street when he was gunned down in a drive-by shooting July 29, around 9:45 p.m.
“That just shattered my core. I can’t imagine… What mother wants to bury their child?” said close family friend Tayna Robinson-Williams, “It’s very disheartening, very disheartening.”
Trevon, known as Tre, was well known in the community. As a little boy, he started a business taking out his neighbors’ trash bins and, as he grew up, he became a man of service who was always volunteering and helping others.
“He took the initiative to do better so people could be better and have a better life. He helped a neighbor out that had cancer,” said Robinson-Williams.
Tre’s entrepreneurial spirit continued into adulthood.
After moving from the neighborhood, he was preparing to go to college while running his own businesses, UTW Detailing LLC and Pulp & Restore LLC smoothie company.
“His sister was going to college and he said, ‘Wait a minute, I want to go to college.’ Not only did he inspire others, but others inspired him,” said Robinson-Williams.
That all ended that fateful night as he visited with his buddies.
Adding to everyone’s pain is not knowing who shot Tre and why.
Family and friends say they have confirmed that several surveillance cameras in the area captured video of the shooting, but they believe people are afraid and stonewalling police.
“It could be your child next. It could be you next. It is only right that the community he served steps up and surrounds this family with love and prayer and makes sure vindication is done the right way, the legal way,” said Robinson-Williams.
Jennifer Williams, Tre’s mother, is a documentary filmmaker who has spoken with FOX 8 in the past about her projects focusing on unsolved cases involving murdered children.
She said she began the projects because, as a mother, she “couldn’t imagine the pain of losing a child and not getting justice.”
That’s what they all want now. Justice for Tre.
“Somebody played God, somebody did something that was not right,” said Robinson-Williams. “Now we don’t know what would have been but we know it would’ve been great.”
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Cleveland Police at (216) 623-5464. Witnesses can remain anonymous.