DETROIT – It's been close to a month since the murder of a well-known Detroit event planner Derick Nelson, who was shot and killed on Detroit's west side.
Police still have no idea who is behind the murder. But now, Nelson's family is teaming up with Crime Stoppers to find their loved one's killer.
Nelson's family says Derick was the type of person who helped every single person he met.
"He would just look at you with those hazel eyes and big smile on his face," said Derick's Mother Betty Nelson. "He'd tell you 'mom I love you.'"
Betty said every aspect of losing her son is extremely difficult, but that the unknown is the worst part.
"I wake up in the morning thinking about him, go through the day, thinking about what has happened to him," she said.
The 35-year-old was shot in the back in the beginning of May while getting out of his car and walking into his apartment just after midnight.
Witnesses say they heard a single gunshot, but police don't think it was a robbery. His keys, wallet, and everything else were left untouched.
"I get up and look at his picture every day," said Arecia Nelson, Derick's sister. She says it's not a possibility that her brother was involved in drugs or gangs.
"Educated, well-mannered, polite, positive," Arecia said of her brother.
Derick Nelson was an accomplished event planner in Detroit and had a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Detroit-Mercy.
His mother thinks the motive was jealousy and she knows that somebody knows something.
"Someone out there, and they're holding this in, their conscious is eating at them, let go," she said.
There is a $7,500 reward for information on the case. The reward will be $8,500 if the tip is received by midnight Friday.
Anyone with information can call 1-800-SPEAK-UP. Tips remain completely anonymous.