Family still waits for info year after man’s death

Angela Holloway describes the last year as heartbreaking as she waits everyday for information in the slaying of her son, Andre Holloway.

Andre Holloway, 34, was fatally shot one year ago Sunday as he walked in the area of Lappin and Rowe on Detroit’s east side. Despite the efforts of police and Crime Stoppers of Michigan, the killer has not been caught.

“A year passed so quickly,” said Angela Holloway, standing at the scene where her son was fatally shot as he was walking from a gas station toward his girlfriend’s house.

“I come out in this neighborhood once a month and I cover miles with my son’s poster and giving them out and knock door to door,” she said. “It seems like someone would have said something or known something, but in a neighborhood like this some people are scared, some people don’t want to talk.

“They just can’t up and move. They have to stay here. I understand, but I want people to think about if it were their own kin, their loved one, their mother, father, whoever in their family ... It could happen to anyone.”

Anyone with information is asked to make an anonymous call to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak-Up.

More than a dozen friends, family and supporters gathered near the crime scene near Lappin and Rowe to release blue balloons in Holloway’s memory. They stood near posters with images of the man, a father of seven who range from 2-17. He loved music and took an interest in it early on, his mother said.

“He used to do local shows in local bars,” she said. “He was my oldest son and most important person in my life. He helped me out with my other sons. He kept me grounded. We texted everyday up until the day he passed away. We never went without saying ‘I love you’ every day.”

Alaijah Holloway, 17, said her father would take her to places where they’d have fun. She said he was overprotective of her.

She misses his laugh and “how he used to make jokes,” she said Sunday.

An arrest would mean possible answers for the Holloways, they said.

“If they find out who did it, I would ask them why they do it,” she said. “I want to ask questions. I can’t see why they would do it.”

Minister Malik Shabazz, leader of Detroit's New Black Panther/New Marcus Garvey Movement, attended the vigil and offered his support. After the balloon release, Shabazz and several others walked door to door and stopped motorists to hand out Crime Stoppers fliers on the Holloway case.

“When you know something, say something,” he said. “We all have to do our part.”

cwilliams@detroitnews.com

Twitter: CWilliams_DN