SAGINAW (WJRT) -
(09/13/12) - While the press conference on the Milton Hall shooting was going on Wednesday afternoon, a Saginaw teenager was shot to death.
It is the latest incident that might be connected to the shooting death of a 12-year-old boy earlier this summer.
It has family members of the latest teenage victim wondering what's next, and police concerned about further retaliation.
Another house on Saginaw's east side was decorated with balloons, but again, they don't signal a celebration. They're a sign of mourning, this time for 18-year-old Ronnie Clemmons. His mother, Kisha Porter, has this on her mind: "Revenge, that's my child," she said.
It was last month when Kisha Porter testified at the preliminary hearing for 18-year-old Travante McKinley, who was accused of firing gunshots at Porter and her son Ronnie Clemmons in July. Police believe McKinley may have been trying to avenge the death of his cousin, Tamaris Steward, the 12-year-old boy who was shot while sleeping in his grandfather's home. Shortly after Porter testified, her home at 4th and Tuscola was firebombed. And on Wednesday afternoon, a group of people on bikes rode by 7th near Federal, not far from her home. After gunshots rang out, Ronnie Clemmons fell dead.
"It's the same side of town, the same people, the same affiliation, all that," Porter says.
Family members say it's difficult to stop the cycle of violence.
"The more you try to teach your son how to do right, the street teaches your kid how to do wrong," says Jeanie Lynn Hill.
Police know people saw this shooting.
"Until they come forward, the community should have no expectation that this violence will end," says Detective Sergeant Joe Dutoi.
Residents in this east side neighborhood wonder what's next.
"I don't know who rides around shooting each other because I always ask myself, 'what kind of love didn't they get?' Don't want to pick up a gun to shoot someone in the chest, in the head and the face, who didn't hug their...who didn't," says Erica Hill-Cox.
Police have some suspects in mind, but are still looking for more information from anyone who actually saw the shooting.
