SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Grant Union High School student Jeremiah Walker was shot and killed at a house party in Natomas over the weekend, leaving his mother and grandfather devastated.
Mervin Brookins, founder of Brother to Brother Mentoring and Walker's grandfatherly figure, said the 18-year-old was known for being a good kid. Walker was preparing to graduate in a few weeks.
Brookins was heartbroken to hear about his grandson being shot and killed. He said Walker had plans to buy a car and set up a bright future with his mother.
"Oftentimes, you hear people talking about stray bullets don't have names, and I beg to differ because this stray bullet had Jeremiah's name on it," said Brookins.
Brookins considers himself Walker’s grandfather since he helped raise him.
"There's no pain like losing a child, losing a loved one. Even though I've been doing the work and working with mothers that lost children and I was close to it, there's nothing that compares to it and there's nothing you can do about it," said Brookins.
Walker was shot and killed at a home on the 3100 block of Buchman Street.
Brookins said he heard a parent booked the home as a short-term rental for a party Saturday, and there were no parents supervising the gathering. He said a fight broke out at some point and shots were fired, leading to a stray bullet hitting Walker.
Police were unable to confirm those details as the investigation is ongoing.
"About 100 kids at that party and I knew several of them. Speaking with them about the circumstances what happened... Jeremiah was not the target. He's not that type of kid. He wasn't the type of kid to have confrontations," said Brookins.
He adds Walker's mother is devastated since he was her only son.
Brookins made a Facebook post Sunday offering $10,000 to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who shot and killed his grandson.
"My ask would be that we hold each other accountable. Not only the person that does this, but the community needs to hold itself accountable in what we're doing to help these youth become better people," said Brookins.
The Twin Rivers Unified School District where Walker was a student said it's going to take every member of the community working together to prevent senseless acts of violence.
Brookins is asking anyone in the community who may have any details on what happened to call police.
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