HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. – Driving near the Lodge and Davison freeways in Detroit, passersby may notice a heartbreaking billboard, which is a mother’s plea to help find her son’s killer.
Chinyelu Humphrey, 23, was found shot to death on Jan. 26, 2021. Humphrey is the son of Highland Park activist “Mama Shu.”
This isn’t the first time a billboard with the same message has appeared. One went up in 2022, but not much has changed.
“One thing about it is I’m going to fight for him, dead or alive. It doesn’t even matter,” said Mama Shu.
Many may recognize Mama Shu as the community activist who, in 2024, was named USA Today’s Woman of the Year and, in 2023, was placed in the top 10 for CNN’s Hero of the Year award.
Known as a problem solver in Avalon Village in Highland Park, Mama Shu faces a challenge she cannot solve: why the man who killed her son isn’t being held accountable.
“The same things that other citizens are going through, I’m going through that. They just may not be a CNN hero, or they may not be a USA Today Woman of the Year. Guess what? We’re all neighbors sitting up here, and we have the same problems. There are so many mothers and fathers that I’ve talked to who are heartbroken because it feels like their loved ones are just left hanging, like nobody cares,” said Mama Shu.
In 2021, Humphrey was shot and killed in cold blood right in front of his home in Highland Park.
Despite witnessing the incident and providing evidence to police, Mama Shu says nothing has happened.
“I’m disappointed that it’s four whole years of knowing who the killer is, but really no active investigation into him committing the crime, him killing Chin,” Mama Shu said.
Four years later, she again placed another billboard, hoping for justice. She is also concerned that the person responsible may soon be released from prison for a different offense.
“Per public record, he’s on his way out. I think the community needs to know that he’s going to be unleashed on the community again,” Mama Shu said.
Regardless of what happens, Mama Shu is doubling down on her efforts to ensure her son’s killer remains behind bars before it’s too late.
“Chinyelu is dead. I know that part right there. I gotta live with that. But I’m not about to live with the killer being in my face and all the other faces here in the community,” Mama Shu said.
The Highland Park Police Department was contacted for answers about the investigation, but there has been no response.
