BURLINGTON, Ky. – John Kramer sat at his computer Friday and watched the 30-second video of his 9-year-old grandson at play, like he does every day now.
He used to be able to see Aiden playing just by looking across the room or out the back window. But that was before Aiden and his mom. Kelli, were found slain in their Burlington apartment March 21.
“Doing Snapchat, swimming in the pool, blowing a kiss, playing in the backyard – maybe six or seven scenes,” Kramer said, describing the video before playing it for reporters.
“I watch it every day. I want to remember him. It’s like he’s still here,” Kramer said.
Kramer still agonizes over their deaths and expresses faith that the Boone County Sheriff’s Office will find their killer. To that end, he announced he was adding $7,500 to the existing Crime Stoppers reward, raising it to $10,000.
“It’s hard for us that they’re not going to come through that door again and it’s probably the manner in which they died that haunts us,” Kramer said. “How could somebody be so cruel – a 9-year-old boy and a 31-year-old mother. That haunts us.
“Things are getting a little better. Hopefully time will heal a little bit, but it’s tough because they were the life of the party. It’s a big part of our family that’s gone.”
He said Aiden was “a good, smart boy” growing into a young man.
“He wasn’t one of these boys who sat in the background. He came out in the open, enjoyed playing with everybody,” Kramer said. “He was involved with everything. We did karaoke last year down in the Florida and Aiden up there singing karaoke.
“Just in the last school pictures we got, we saw that little turn from being a little boy – the change in his face. We’re going to miss that. He had his whole future ahead of him. I think it would have been a real good future.”
Kramer said the Sheriff’s Office has not told his family much about the investigation, and that's OK with them.
“We don’t want to know that much,” he said.
But he knows enough to call the crime “an horrific murder” and to want the killer or killers behind bars.
“Most of the time people make a mistake. We hope they made a mistake,” Kramer said. “The person or persons involved, they need to be caught. This was an horrific murder. These people need to be taken off the streets for everybody’s sake.”
Kramer is hoping the public will help and that the sweetened reward money "does the trick."
“I kinda think somebody knows something and hopefully now with the increased money - $10,000 is a lot of money for a tip, an anonymous tip,” Kramer said, pleading for people with information to come forward.
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“You don’t have to testify in court. Hopefully somebody will help us out. If you know something, please let Crime Stoppers know.”
If you have information, call Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040 or the Boone County Sheriff's Office at 859-334-2175.