“He was the type of kid that would help an old lady cross the street, not snatch her purse,” said Ernest McFadden, the father of Deontae’s two older brothers. “He was that kid.”
[..]
Deontae was “the baby of the family” with two older brothers and an older sister, McFadden said. He was a bright kid who loved school and followed the rules.
“He believed in God. He believed in something better than everything going on in the world today,” McFadden said. “He believed in people, too. I guess that’s where he made his mistake.”
McFadden said the family is doing “a lot of praying” since Deontae’s “unbelievable” death.
“It’s happening to these kids every day, though,” he said of Detroit children becoming victims of violent crime. “Kids that still have their innocence and don’t know the world can be so cold and broken.”
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...pect-detroit-teen-death-toledo-jail/85338418/
Today, Deontae's grandparents described him as a gentle child who did well in school and often helped with work and chores around their house.
“He wasn’t the violent type,” said his grandmother, Vernice Ellington. “He was timid, and really sweet. He didn’t deserve this.”
His grandfather, Glen Ellington, said Deontae was well-liked by the neighbors on the block where the Ellington’s live on the city’s west side.
“He wasn’t the type to be in the streets running around,” said his grandfather, Glen Ellington. “He just got caught at the store at the wrong time.”
Vernice Ellington said she helped raise Deontae and never imagined she’d have to endure him being kidnapped and killed over a few dollars.
“We are in a troubled world,” she said.
http://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...k-2-more-suspects-kidnapping-boy-13/85287492/
