DETROIT – The mother of a Detroit man whose body was discovered in a sewer Friday is speaking out.
Tamika Fairley had been looking for her son, Jermaine Fairley, for days after learning he had been shot on Saturday, January 27th.
Jermaine was reportedly shot outside a home on Wildemere Street and Puritan Avenue on the city’s west side.
Tamika says Jermaine had visited the home following a funeral and repass.
Detroit police say a fight broke out before the shots were fired.
“Early indication that he was shot in the head, transported,” said Detroit police Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald.
Fairley’s car was found burning five miles away from the scene of the shooting.
After sharing the Fairley family’s desperate search for the 28-year-old, Local 4 received tips about his whereabouts.
“We received an anonymous tip that he could possibly be in a sewer in that area,” said Fitzgerald, who added that detectives, with the help of K9s, were able to find the body.
Read: Police find man’s body in sewer on Detroit’s west side
“I would say thank you, thank you for bringing us closure because without them, we wouldn’t have found him,” Tamika said.
Tamika says Jermaine was young and full of life. He leaves behind five children, ages two to nine.
They are still trying to figure out how to break the news to Jermaine’s kids, who are too young to understand what’s happened to them. On top of that, they still have their own questions about how he died and why.
“You took a father, a brother, an uncle, you took my son,” Tamika said. “For what? For nothing.”
Police say they have identified two persons of interest, but no arrests have been made yet.
While they wait for more answers, they are preparing to lay Jermaine to rest.
Tamika says he survived a shooting as a teenager but that doctors were unable to remove the bullet. As a result, she says, he was unable to obtain a life insurance policy.
They’ve started a GoFundMe to raise money for his burial expenses; if you’d like to donate, you can do so here.
Read: Family searching for answers as father’s body goes missing after shooting on Detroit’s west side