A 13-year-old who was found shot to death in the woods in DeKalb County last week will be laid to rest Saturday, according to his obituary.
Jamiren Cordell Crosby was found by a passerby at the edge of Lithonia Park on Sept. 19, two days after his family said he left home and did not return. DeKalb police confirmed the teenager’s identity and said they were investigating his death as a homicide. Crosby’s cause of death was a gunshot wound, according to the DeKalb Medical Examiner’s Office.
Crosby’s family will hold a celebration of life for the 13-year-old at 1 p.m. Saturday at Providence Baptist Church in College Park, his obituary said. A viewing will be held Friday from 4-6 p.m. at the Willie A. Watkins Riverdale Chapel. Crosby will be interned at Resthaven Cemetery in Decatur.
In the early morning hours of Sept. 18, Crosby’s mother called police and reported her son as a runaway, according to a missing person report. She told officers he left home around 2 a.m. and she believed he’d taken her handgun with him. Crosby’s mother thought he could have gone with a friend to the Arbor Crossing apartment complex, about a half-mile from their home.
More than a day later, Crosby’s body was found about two miles from his home, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. His family said they sent out search parties through the weekend to look for him at local schools and parks. A mysterious phone call to the family suggested Jamiren was killed and left somewhere in Lithonia Park, Channel 2 Action News reported.
“He didn’t deserve that, what happened to him. He didn’t. He’s a sweet child,” Brittanie Malone, a relative of Crosby’s, told Channel 2 after the teen’s body was found.
Crosby’s family has created a GoFundMe page to help pay for the teen’s final arrangements.
“We are in need of help with laying him to rest,” Calandra Owens, Crosby’s aunt, wrote on the fundraising page. “Anything will help us out and I show gratitude and appreciate any help that y’all can give us.”
Created Sept. 20, the page has raised nearly $7,000.
No suspects have been publicly identified, but police shared a photo on social media of a person of interest who is wanted for questioning related to Crosby’s death.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the DeKalb police Homicide Assault Unit at 770-724-7850.
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