DETROIT – Family and friends came together over the weekend for the funeral of 2-year-old Brison Christian.
The boy was laid to rest at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit.
He was shot and killed while traveling with his family inside a vehicle on I-75 in Detroit.
Darius Evonte Lanier, 19, and Eugene Meredith Hubbard, 21, have been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of the boy. The toddler’s brother, 9-year-old BJ, also was injured in the shooting.
His death sparked a city-wide initiative known as “Operation Brison” to help tackle freeway shootings in Detroit.
The child was the nephew of a Detroit officer.
Police say community members must work together to make sure these types of incidents do not happen again.
“It is time to stop talking and start taking action so we can work together and put the necessary things in place so that we don’t have another situation like this,” said Interim Detroit Police Department Chief, James White.
‘Completely innocent victims’
The suspects mistakenly targeted the couple’s black truck based on its color and the manufacturer. The family members were innocent victims, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.
‘”The Christian family were completely innocent victims. This was a family returning from a child sports activity that were mistaken for others because of their truck. Two year old Brison is dead and his 9-year-old brother barely escaped serious injury,” said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.” A child is dead because adults decided that they were judge, jury, and executioner. They will get a fair trial, but Brison doesn’t get to have a life.”