Family of Father's Day murder victim vowing justice in shooting death of Detroit man

Detroit family tells Local 4 Defenders it's time for Detroiters to start speaking out against crime before they become victims

DETROIT – The family of a Detroit man killed on Father's Day is vowing to keep his case alive despite no new leads in the investigation of the shooting death.

Marvin Monroe, 46, was murdered in the early hours of June 19th, 2011. It was Father's Day.

To his family, he was known as uncle Marvin, the man who was always there for them, no matter what they needed.

His family met at the street corner of Chalmers and Frankfort where Monroe was killed to explain why they have no closure with this death.

Monroe was last seen about 1 a..m. when he left his brother's house to walk home from a graduation party. He was discovered just hours later fatally shot six times in the chest.

His family said without a single lead, their frustration continues, but they are also motivated to get other families around Detroit to speak out against crime.

"At some point, snitching, as we put it in the streets, that has to go away because we have to find out who's killing the people around here in Detroit," said Monroe's nephew Michael Peterson.

"Don't wait 'til it's your family, your brother, your uncle, your mother, your father, your child," said Marvin's nephew Roy Charles. "It's time for people in Detroit to stop locking themselves in the houses and speak up. You can't just close the blinds and put more locks on your door, and more bars. You're locking yourself in."

The Monroe family is working with Crime Stoppers and a $2,500 award is being offered for information that leads to an arrest.

Despite their continuing search for justice, Marvin's family is trying to send a bigger message to the city.

"The police can't do everything. People have got to care about their own neighborhoods and let the police know what's going on...How can you just not say anything? How can you not care that there's a man laying down there for a couple hours, laying in the street, with six gunshot wounds to his chest, and you don't even care, you know. You don't even care enough to say 'hey we know who did this' to the family," said Charles.

The family frequently replaces flowers and bows, which lay at the intersection of Chalmers and Frankfort where Marvin was shot.

"It would be a wonderful present to have a call to let us know that someone's in custody," said Latricia Ward, Marvin's niece. "Someone finally spoke, spoke up and spoke out and said, 'I know who did this. I saw.'"

Marvin's brother, Johnny Monroe's eyes filled with tears as he cried, "We have to just find the strength to go on and to embrace one another, keep embracing one another, keep loving one another until we get answers."

Saturday June 16th at 6 p.m. out-of-state relatives will join the family and friends to walk from 3038 Coplin Street, where Marvin was last seen, to the crossroads of Chalmers and Frankfort where he was killed, to hold a candlelight vigil.

Anyone who has information about Monroe's murder can call Crime Stoppers and they can remain anonymous. To place an anonymous tip on the murder of Marvin Monroe, call 1-800 SPEAK UP (1-800-773-2587).