CINCINNATI -- Tyrone Drummond was quiet and small for his 19 years but "had the heart of a lion," his mother, Lakysha, said Saturday night. More importantly: "He was the big brother to everyone. … He was my guy."
She continued to text him every night for three months after he was shot to death in Avondale Jan. 3, hoping against reason he would respond. Their family still has no idea who killed him. They only know, she said, that someone stole his life and his loved ones' sense of peace that afternoon.
"For someone to decide my son's life wasn't valuable is inhumane," Drummond said. "It breeds anger in us -- an anger that's indescribable."
The family gathered Saturday at the shooting scene -- the intersection of Rion Lane and Clinton Springs Avenue -- to say a prayer, remember Tyrone Drummond's short life and implore anyone with information about the crime to share it with police.
"I never pictured life without my brother," his sister, Mahogany Drummond, said. "Now, it's like a whole new life without him."
Lakysha Drummond said the loss of her son means a life sentence of grief for her. She wants a real life sentence for the person who killed her son.
"They robbed us from joy," she said. "It seems so far away, just joy or just a sense of happiness. People ask me how I'm doing it. I'm doing because I have other people to depend on me."
Anyone with information about Tyrone Drummond's death can call Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040. Callers can remain anonymous.
