DETROIT – A heartbroken mother shared her story Monday after her twin sons were shot, and one was killed, Friday on Detroit's east side.
One of the boys was killed Friday and the other is in critical condition after the shooting on Whittier Avenue near Roxbury Street, officials said.
The family said a man just walked up to them and started shooting. Laron and Lashun Walden were ambushed.
The brothers were parked in separate cars outside Whittier Market when the gunman approached.
Monday is the twin boys' birthday, as Lashun Walden remains in the hospital and Laron Walden would have turned 28 years old. Their mother said over the years, she's known women who lost children and she told them she understood, but now she said she had no idea the pain of losing a child.
"It's a devastating feeling, it's unbearable," Joye Ragland said. "Why would they want to hurt them like that? To shoot them so many times like that, you've got to have so much hate in you."
Laron Walden never had a chance. He was killed while sitting in his car.
Lashun Walden tried to fight back, then ran away.
"Then he tried to shoot him in the head and a gun jammed," Ragland said. "Then he tried to shoot him again in the head, he threw his hand up and the gun jammed again. Then he kicked him and he ran."
The family said there was an ongoing feud between the brothers and another man since the start of the new year. They think the twins were targeted because of it.
"He doesn't want to be on a T-shirt," Diane Miller, who has a child with Laron Walden, said. "He doesn't want to hear anybody saying, 'Rest in peace' to him. This isn't what he wanted. And me being his child's mother, I stated to him all the time, 'Get off the streets.'"
Laron Walden leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter. Lauren's mother said she can't bring herself to explain to her child that her father's gone.
"She doesn't understand, she doesn't know," Miller said. "I got her a bear with his voice inside of it and you ask her where he's at, she'll said, 'He's right there.'"
The family said over the weekend, their godson was also shot in connection with this ongoing feud. They're hoping someone will come forward with information, but they said they're confident Detroit police will find the person responsible.
To help the family, you can donate to its GoFundMe page.
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