July 12, 2021 • 37 mins
Demetrius Griffin Jr. was just 15 years old when he was burned alive on the West Side of Chicago, placed in a garbage can, and left to die in an alley. His death was ruled a homicide, but the case remains unsolved. For this podcast, Gianno talks to Demetrius’s aunt, Rochelle Sykes, who has continued fighting for her nephew and demanding justice. Rochelle is also a woman of faith who works at New Mount Pilgrim Church in Chicago. She and Gianno discuss her nephew’s horrific murder, the status of the investigation, and violence in Chicago more broadly. The city is like a war zone, and the situation's only getting worse.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Up next out Loud with Giano called part of the
game which Demetrius Griffin Jr. Was just fifteen years old
when he was burned alive on the West Side of Chicago,
placed in a garbage can, and left to die in
an alley. The teenager's death was ruled a homicide but
remains unsolved. Today. I try to get to the bottom
(00:21):
of what happened. This is outllowed with Giano calledwell, Welcome
back to allowed with Gianno calledwell. I'm Gianno calledwell and
on this week's show, I'm talking about violence in Chicago,
(00:42):
which continues to devastate the city in so many families.
In fact, over the Loan Fourth of July weekend, at
least a hundred and eight people were shot in Chicago,
including two police officers and several children. Two of those
children were girls aged five and six years old. At
least seventeen were killed in the shootings, and another person
(01:04):
was murdered and as stabbing. And just two weeks earlier,
over Father's Day weekend last month, a hundred and ten
people were shot in Chicago. Fourteen of them, including five children,
were killed. That was in less than three days. I
want to tackle this tragic situation in Chicago by going
back to one especially horrific case. In fifteen year old
(01:27):
Demetrius Griffin Jr. Was found dead in a garbage can,
burned beyond recognition in an alley on the West side
of Chicago. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said he
was burned alive following an optopsy law enforcement rulee Demetrius
death at homicide, but his case remains unsolved. His family
(01:50):
is unsatisfied, demanding justice for a boy who was described
as gentle, respectful, and someone who loved dogs. They have
offered rewards for in nation on the Killer or Killers
to learn more. My guests on this week's show is
demetrious aunt Rochelle Sykes, who has continued fighting for a
nephew and seeking answers. Rochelle is also a woman of
(02:12):
faith who works at the new Mount Pilgrim Church in Chicago.
With that, I want to welcome Rochelle Sykes to Outllow
with Giano Caldwell. Thanks so much for coming on. Thank you.
Now you know I've met you before. I actually interviewed
you for Fox News Channel and then I pushed the
(02:33):
Lord Ingram Show to to do the the town hall
on Chicago violence, and you joined joined us then, and
then you joined us for a second UM town hall
the following year. So much has happened in the city
of Chicago. If you look at the numbers. Some have
estimated the fourth of July weekend that was over a
(02:56):
hundred and ten people shot UM so many fatally, I
believe about eighteen and twenty fatally, including two police officers.
What the heck is going on in Chicago? I have
no clue. UM, I see right now, I see if
(03:19):
you know that your child or your significant other, your
loved one, your your grandchildren, your children are doing things
that are not um of legal standards, we need to
come together and turn these people in. We know that, UM,
every child is not perfect. Every child is not perfect.
(03:43):
But when you harbor UM a person that may have
killed or hurts someone, or you know that they're have
a thousands and thousands of guns or just a house
full of gun and ammunition and hanging with the wrong people,
I'd rather you turn that child in. Dame, you stand
(04:03):
at the great fight and much to lower down. And
I a hud agree with you as someone who's from
the city and whose family has also been impacted by
the violence in Chicago. I would rather much rather even
a family member go to jail than to see them
out committing more crimes and endangering the lives of others.
(04:25):
So I really appreciate you saying that, and I want
to I want to get into, um, what happened with
your your nephew, such a young young life, fifteen years
old when this happened. Can you take us back to
that tragic day in when did you know something was wrong?
And how did you find out Demetrius was no longer
(04:48):
with us? Well, it goes back to that Saturday morning. Um,
My mom's birthday was on the nineties. Um, go back
to that Saturday morning. We were picking her. Um, Me
and a couple of other church members were picking her
out to take her out for breakfast to celebrate her
(05:08):
her birthday because the church's pastor's anniversary was that weekend
as well. And so when I pulled up to pick
her up, my sister and my niece was coming out,
and I'm like, Okay, where is she on this early
in the morning, because my this is not a morning person.
She said, well, Demeter has didn't come home last night.
And I was like, okay, what do you need he
(05:30):
didn't come home last night, because that made no sense
because he's never missed a curfew. And she said, well,
he didn't come home last night. And but some odd
meason right away to my mind came what I saw
in the New nes is that they found the body
of block and a half away in a garbage camp,
burned beyond recognition. Um. They had said it was a
(05:54):
small frame. Um man, they said it was a man
at first. So we went on to breakfast and we ate.
We sat in eight and what we was uneas everybody
at the time it was unneas. So we came back,
we came to the church, We did what we needed
to do at the church and bringing that by time
(06:15):
we got back to the house, he would have showed
up when we would know his whereabout. And when we
came back to the house, she said she hasn't seen him.
No one had seen him. And so um, I said, well,
you know it's time that we contact the police because
this is not of his nature. And I did speak
(06:36):
to someone at the police station. They and they asked
me some questions about you know, how tall was he,
how big was he? And and things of that nature.
And then UM, the first thing I had spoken was
teld me, well, I think you wouldn't need to get
some gentraal records. UM. Amberler did go up. I did
(06:57):
um authorize for them to pick up his central records.
And at that point it was a way. Yet we waited.
UM that was that was out. Saturday we waited. Sunday
we attended church. UM we helped our pastor celebrate um
(07:17):
his anniversary because that's what we would have done naturally. UM,
and we just prayed that the outcome wasn't the outcome
that we were feeling it love. UM. We did not
tell pastor. UM. We did tell one of the associate
ministers so that someone at the church wouldn't know what
(07:39):
was going on because the meet was also a member
of the church and baptized and UM Christian at New
Mount killed me. So we didn't tell pastor. UM. Monday
came around. I didn't let him know that Monday, and
UM he was a little bit distraught about it. UM
about three something, UM I got calm um to come
(08:05):
that the police was there and my time I got
there that you will leave it and they had identified
him UM by his dental records stepped out? Was him?
I mean if the house was full of people and
polsal screaming when I when I walked up, folks we screaming.
You can just hear people screaming from outside. And to
(08:27):
say that when I say that, I pulled up in
a car to a house where the door was closed
and I can hear screaming, you need to No one
heard him scream in that alley. He was birth alive.
No one heard him scream in that alley. Are we
going about our business so much that we don't recognize
(08:51):
when there's something wrong and to report it? Are we
that afraid that we cannot report when the client is
going on. When you see something out there, you don't
say anything you see something wrong. If you saw a
young person walking down the street with a handgun in
the hand, you wouldn't call the police. That's the part
(09:12):
that disturbing to me is that we are allowing them
to take over, and then they are getting younger and
younger people to do these clients because they're getting a
flap on the rim. At some point we have to
stand up and say enough is enough. And it starts
(09:35):
you're you're absolutely correct. And every time I hear this story,
it really brings tears to the eyes of so many
that Loria Ingram heard the story and she began crying
on air. Um, I think that is it's just deplurable.
What has happened to your nephew and what has happened
in the city of Chicago, and it seems to be
(09:57):
no answers to what's going on one in fact, things
have gotten worse, not better. They've gotten worse. And you
wonder and you mentioned you said, you know, they get
a slap on a risk and that goes back to
the County prosecutor's office, who's allowed over twenty five people
off without charging them. And these were felony cases, some
(10:19):
of them include murder. Knowing what happened to your your nephew,
how does that make you feel? It makes me sick
to my stomach because one of those people could have
been the person that murdered my nephew. I have no answers,
I have no closure. I've had no sleep. I mean,
I have nothing. Nothing we had we went from we
(10:44):
didn't even have a funeral. There was nothing to say
goodbye too. They met us at the at the funeral
I mean at the cemetery with the casket. That's how
we said Goodbut we had a memorial service and it
was over seven. Well here, but it's not the same.
That's not the same. It's different when there's someone that
(11:05):
passes yea um um elder age and someone that passes
that has been sick, because then you get too to
sit with that person and you get to um talk
with that person and get to you know, let them
know that it's okay. But when someone is matched from
(11:27):
you with no means of an explanation of m it's
a hard thing to deal with. My family is torn apart,
and I for sure there's other families like mine with
no no resolution, no answer, and one't why this is
continually to happen. And then some people won't say anything
(11:49):
or do anything until it hit your front door. You
need to start thinking to now, you need to start
doing something now. Anybody in my family know that I
will turn them in without a doubt. I will have
the stuff without a doubt. I'd rather you be alive
(12:11):
and locked up, and then my whole family know through
the misery of having to put you in the ground,
not knowing what happened to you and wishing we could
have done something new. And and with that being the case,
as you just as you just said, you would rather
someone go to jail than throw their lives away by
(12:31):
shooting someone else and then possibly in and up dead themselves.
You would rather them go to jail. And I understand that.
And let me ask you this question. And I know
that your nephew you were responsible for him. Was his
mom not around? Was his dad not around? What was
the situation there? No, his his dad was around. His
(12:51):
dad recently died. Um of Ana. Yeah, I think it
was from a bloken heart, but they will around. But
he was my only nephew, so he's the teeth baby. UM.
When Demetrius was born, he was pretty um I think
he weighed a little bit less than three pounds and
(13:13):
he had these beautiful bluish gray eyes. So he became
everyone's baby because he was the baby of the family
for a long time. And then he was so little
for his age, so he was everybody's baby. So even
though I did a lot of things for him, everybody
actually did a lot of things for him, and UM
(13:34):
took they just took him into his wing because he
was a lovable kid. He had an old soul um.
He loved animals, He did things for the native he
saw someone carrying that he would want to help and
take their spains in the house. Just the type of
kid he loved. Now I'm not he was a good kid,
not involved in any of the gangs or any of
(13:56):
the trouble in Chicago, which typically when I was growing up,
the way people were shot. Of the reason why is
because they were involved in gangs, they hung out with
the wrong people. And certainly these days that doesn't matter anymore.
It's not the same thing. It's not an affiliation thing.
A kid was twenty well, young man twenty years old
on the l just the other day, was a student
(14:19):
of the University of Chicago. A bullet shot through the
train station window and paralyzed them, and his parents just
recently had to make the tough choice of taking him
off of a ventilator. It's happening to a lot of
people in the city of Chicago all over, and it's
(14:42):
not just frustrating. It's become a war zone. You don't
know if you're gonna you enter, you may not survive
and leave. It's horrendous where you need younger and younger
killing gun Why absolutely, you're correct to ask that question,
(15:03):
and more importantly, why is the Cook County Prosecutors Office
letting people off the hook with a slap on the
wrist for doing serious crimes creating more creaking, more havoc
in the communities. Now I want to ask you. I've
read that your nephew, Demetrius, he was murdered by other
black kids because he refused to join a gang. But
(15:24):
some have said in the media that, um, they don't
really know and the case just remains unsolved. Do you
have any information as to the motive of why this
would happen to your nephew. No, I do not. It
may know, it makes it makes no sense because Demetrius,
he was fifteen, but he looked to be nine. He
(15:46):
was only ninety seven pounds. He was only four nine
in heights, so he was a little for his age.
He had a he had a major problem with sitting
in with his age group. So because he didn't he
fit with them, he played with kids that are younger
than he was because he were more of their size.
(16:07):
When he was growing up, there's nothing that you could
not knock on my mother's door and say, well, Demetrius
did this or Demetris did that. There was nothing that
you could knock on her doing to tell her never
had any problems with Demetrius and stood never had to
go up there for him, never had I've never had
(16:32):
up there with him. When he got in high school.
I'm the one that had him in road. He was
only there two weeks. I've never got a call about
that because think he did not play that. My thing
is Demetrius was a little bit scary because he was smaller,
and like I said, he played with smaller kids because
of his weight and height. So when they say that
(16:57):
they wanted him in a game, and I my only
thing that comes to my mind is for what he
can't do anything. He's too scary and he know his
t t A is not going to play that. He
never drank he and he never smoked any marijuana or
didn't even drug. So if they were trying to recruit him,
what would be the purpose of recruiting him, and why,
(17:19):
what would be that purpose? And so that because he's
little work, you think he would get off, but he
wouldn't bloom again we because he knows that's not what
Lee is still into him. We need to pause here
for a break. We will be back. You know, it's
it's one thing that kills some one, but this was
(17:40):
done in such a gruesome way, burning Demetrius alive live,
leaving him to dine a garbage can in the alley.
This is just next level of torturous. There was no
one in his family that was involved in anything that
they were trying to um to respond to and trying
to get to my that was beloved in your family.
(18:01):
There was nothing like that or anything, um that you
can think of that that possibly could have occurred in
my immediate family. And as far as I know, we
have no gang members. And if it is, it's something
that I don't know. Um, I don't have any brothers,
so it's just me and my sister, and I have
(18:23):
a step sister, and UM, my sons are not gang related.
My sons don't even hang on the corner because they
know that. I don't allow that. I cannot imagine what
it could have been, or I mean, I've heard a
(18:44):
bunch of things. I heard it. I've heard it was
gang gang, you know, they wanted him to join a game.
Then I heard it was some some some um skinheads.
I heard something about that, and then somebody said he
might have saw something. None of it makes sense. Nothing
(19:07):
that you can say would make sense to take someone
life by burning them alive. Nothing you could say would
make sense of me hearing this kid yelling for help
and me not doing anything. None of that makes sense.
Nowhere around does that make sense. And that's why. On
(19:29):
the corner of Cortez and Centrol there's a bench, there's
a big red cross, there's a book box for books
for children. We keep that corner clean because you're gonna
remember that this kid was over here and you said nothing.
We make it clean. I keep it clean, I weeds.
(19:50):
I keep that clean. So children can go and sit
on that bench, they can get in a book out
that book box. They can feel comfortable sitting right there
on that corner. Nothing of it, no, nothing makes sense.
All is killing, moll is shooting, shooting up in the air.
(20:14):
What would be the purpose of that. Get a job.
My grandmother her in her grade now because she is
on a plantation, and what we had to go through
to be where we are now, and then look pulling
on that back from us. Yes, and I absolutely agree
with what you're saying, do you feel any level of
(20:34):
frustration with the law enforcement or the politicians that were
around during this time. I think Rama Manuel's in office
during this era. Yes, I do. The superintendent at that
time and the mayor at that time, we contact them
thirty days. I had thirty days of confirmation numbers where
(20:55):
I had called three one one. We have yet to
hear from either one of them. Are you here? Is
I kid you not? Let me tell you just I
just want to make sure I'm hearing you right, you're
saying Mayor Rama Manuel and the superintendent of police at
that time. Neither one of them followed up with you there.
Their office is no one touch base. No, we've never
(21:18):
heard from that. And at that time I did contact
Kim Fox's office because I just needed some help or
where to the county prosecutor. Kim Fox is who you're
referring to, and I was told that they couldn't do
anything until there's an arrest. They couldn't help me until
there was an arrest. That's what I was told by them.
(21:39):
I sent a letter to the White House to our
former president. I got a letter back. I didn't send
a letter requesting any money from him. I needed some help.
I needed help. I didn't know. I don't I don't
know what to do. This is the first this, this
is the first trinity in our family. I don't know
what to do. I need help. I sent back. Then
(22:03):
I got a letter back from the White House. Then
they don't do donation. That's not what I asked you for.
I asked you for help because at that point, we
didn't know if it was a serial killer out here,
because who does that to a young person, a child?
So we didn't know if it was a serial killer
out here. We've had a go find me page, We've
(22:26):
had that open too. I did get a foundation set
up for him to help with maybe getting detectives, just
to help with the justice for that, and then to
try to help other young people. Barry ten thousand dollars,
(22:46):
and five of that came from Laura. Laura Ingram donated
to the to the foundation. Yeah, yes she did. She
she donated five thousand dollars. But my my, my mom
always say you have and and and and I'm not
I'm not a racist person or anything like that. And
(23:08):
I know people donate to things that they want to
donate to. And I just you have. My mom was
very upset because the two little girls that came up
missing in Indiana. And my heart went out Today's family
because I know how they felt. I know how the
family felt, because you know, we've lost our loved one too.
(23:29):
But her thing was is that they had got the
FBI and and then they had got all of this
money from I guess the state, and here he is.
We're out here, we're passing out flyers. Were having fund
raisers on Mother's Day. We stand out there on the corner.
We give out Mother's Day guilt, to give out Father's
Day gifts. We have a um A community block club
(23:54):
every year for the kids. We give our book bags
and clothes and persons and thinks of that nature. They
have or found that they have um A college thing
at at New Mount Pilgen, where Demitrian was a member.
We give out stuff, look the kids that are going
away to college. We do all of that. And it
seems as though that because of the color of his skin,
(24:16):
this is her feeling and I and I understand, she
seemed like it's being fresh um brushed up under the
rug because it doesn't get that same priority toy and
part of the reason for that, and this was very
gruesome um event, obviously, the murder of your nephew. Chicago.
(24:40):
The politicians there, and I'm sure you would agree, have
completely failed the citizens. And it's become a weekly or
daily occurrence of bullets piercing through skin and that's all
it is to them, it seems to be, so why
do why is it that people continue to support the
same the Kim Fox, the Lordy life to the world,
(25:00):
the ones who aren't making a difference. Is these politicians?
Why do people continue to support them in the city
of Chicago knowing that they have not gotten any results.
Could it possibly be not necessarily that they're getting so
much support. Is that so many people are desensipized and
they don't support at all. So that makes the small
(25:23):
amount that do support things so large because there are
so many people that do not vote. There are so
many people that do not vote. Because I talked to
people that have not voted. My vote don't make no difference.
But how you know your vote don't make no different
Your one vote could be the vote that made the difference.
(25:46):
They feel that there is no change, They feel that
things are still gonna be the same. It's going to
be the same thing. There's going to be people making
decisions for low income people that are not low income.
There's a there's people making decisions for people that have
(26:06):
five and six people living in their households and they're
living in a mansion. They want people to make decisions
that live the life that they live. You go on
the West side of Chicago, you can ride down Madison Street.
Tell me how many groceries, schools for food markets you
(26:28):
see in the black neighborhoods. Yeah, their food, their food, deserts.
You got corncus need I mean, what restaurants do you have?
I mean they feel that you're taking away everything from them,
So why should they vote. It won't make a difference.
(26:49):
We're talking to Rochelle's Sykes, who's fifteen year old nephew
was tragically murdered in Chicago, who got much more with
her on the unsolved case. In the violence in Chicago
more broadly, right after break it's not making sense at
all the policy decisions that are being made. It's not
making sense, and it's actually making so many other people
(27:11):
in the community less safe in the city of Chicago.
It's it's beyond troubling, is disgusting, and I wish things
could could change, but it doesn't seem as though there's
been as much value on the black lives that matter
and the folks who just like you mentioned you said, hey,
these people are if you're walking down the street with
a gun, that someone needs to call the police, if
(27:34):
you know who the shoot is, they need to be
turned in. Those black lives matter, and if you if
you don't, If you don't, then you're obviously saying, um,
the antithesis of it that they don't matter in that case.
So it really needs to be outraged full scale, not
just with the people like you who you're you had
this beloved nephew who died in a very gruesome way,
(27:56):
who was murdered in a grucive way. But everyone needs
to live their voice up. It needs to be a
complete community that refused to capitulate to the gang members
who want to take over their neighborhoods. Absolutely, would you
would you agree with that? I agree with that, And
then they shouldn't have to live in their house and
be afraid that if I turned you in, they're gonna
(28:19):
tell you I turned you in, and then they're coming
after me or I turned you in and you get
to court and because the system is over proud, and
they let you go, which has happened a number of
times in Cook County, especially in the Cook County Jail
during the COVID area. A lot of folks were let
out who went on to commit crimes. And that's not
just in Cook County, but that's across the country. People
(28:41):
were let out and they went on to commit other crimes,
including killing people. You know, I want to ask you,
because I know you're a woman of faith and you
work for the new Mount Pilgrim Church in Chicago, how
is your faith factored into how you've dealt with demetrius death.
That's the only thing that had count me. Um I
(29:03):
Um was once asked and I had to look at
myself and I did What did I forgive the person
that killed the Matris? And I have to be honest,
Even though I believe in God, I know God as
ahead of my life, I don't forgive them. I feel
(29:23):
sorry for them because there has to be something seriously
wrong with you to do what you did and be
able to sleep at night, because like I said, I
haven't slept in five years. I leapt straight through a
night in five years. I can hear it that look
what calling my name? I can hear him calling. So
(29:43):
I feel sorry for you because there's no way you
can be resting, and for everybody that hurts him and
didn't say nothing. There's no way you could be wrestling.
I wasn't there and I ain't resting. But if it
wasn't for God, I don't think I would have bade
it through this far. I don't even sit on that corner,
poor weeds. I don't think I could put the events together.
(30:04):
That's God in me, and I knew that this outcome
has something, something bigger. I don't know what it is,
but I know it does. Now. What would you tell
Demetrius if you can speak to him today, in this moment.
I'm sorry T T let you down. I am so
sorry because I always told him I would take care
(30:25):
of him. I always told if you t T will
always be here for him. And I feel like I
have failed him, and I would I. I just would
say I am so sorry because you had to be
through some tremendous pain for that to happen to you,
and I am sorry. And if if I could trade
(30:47):
places with him. I would trade places with him right down,
because I don't know what he had was capable that
could have been the next president. I am sorry. I
would I am so sorry, And if I could trade places,
I would trade places like I would beg he ever
looked to just take me and let him go. That
(31:08):
is very tough to hear. But I can tell you
right now you did not fail your nephew, not one bit.
And I'm sure if he was here, he would thank
you for continuing to fight on in his name, like
there's so many other young people in Chicago who lost
their lives and they didn't have Rochelle Sykes too, to
(31:29):
chase down the police if you will, to try to
get answers and work with politicians to try to get
something done, solve solve this, this hainous, hainous crime. So
I'm sure he would be thankful for you being there
for him and in the family as you have been.
Thank you. Yeah, but it hurts so bad, I mean
(31:53):
especially I don't know if it's the not knowing or
do I really want enough? And I just my heart
hurts to see all these young babies, you know, they
don't know one day from another riding in the back
of a car, and the next thing you know, they're
(32:14):
they're they're dead. I mean, you've got all these young
mothers and fathers and I don't know where the term
because you know you you took in my breath away.
You took in my breath away. I mean, to give
birth to a child, it's not an easy thing, and
deniting raising one is even harder. And then someone else
(32:35):
that has no care about life just can walk past
and take all of that away from a person when
they killed. Do they know how prominent that is. You're
hurting the person you killed, You're hurting all the other
people who left behind, even your own family when they
(33:00):
catch you. You got Mama at the courthouse crying, Grandma
at the courthouse crying. We got cousins and stuff, gotta
send you money, with money on your books, you got
the person that was murdered. Family don't know how to
put stuff together, don't know how to get it together.
I don't want how to make decisions from that moment forward,
(33:23):
because all they knew was their child, their grandchild, their cousin,
their nephews. They need to know the extent of that
one decision that they made. It's not hurting that person
you killed, it's hurting me everybody else because now this
(33:44):
community is to us. Now, this lady get to go
to the grocery store to get her groceries because somebody
killed somebody on the corner. Now you've got a whole
lady that I can't get food in her own home.
He had to go sit on her porch, can't stay
play out in the streets. Something's gotta give. We gotta
(34:07):
stand off of something because we're falling down for everything. Yes, ma'am,
do you think you've ever run for public office? No,
I'm honest. I'm honest, and unfortunately I might not have
a good filter owner on my mouth, but I'm honest.
(34:27):
I'm gonna tell it like it is. If it ain't right,
it ain't right. Yes, ma'am, and and and and I'm
with you. And I want to thank you for sharing
demetrius story. And as you fight on, um, I definitely
want my listeners to be involved in the fight with you.
(34:48):
So if you will let us know where can people
donate or help in other ways to find justice for Demetrius. Well, Um,
they can go into any US banks and give them
justice for Demetrius Griffin Jr. He has an account set
up there. UM there's also a god funding page. We
(35:10):
would love to have a a community youth center where
we teach life skills till UM ages five to eighteen,
help them apply for college and make sure they get
into make sure they get a g D. If they
need tutoring, if they need counseling. To um help provide
all of that for them. Um, they can do that,
(35:33):
or they can just if they want to just send
a check they can always then one to New Mount
Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, but make it out to Justice
for Demetrius and the addresses forty three oh one West
Washington Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, six o six to food. They
(35:54):
can do either you those and anything will help. And
its Metrius, uh and you want to spell it for
folks how its spelled out? D E M E, T
R I E S and Griffin g R I F
F I N jor Okay, Well, we're gonna be praying
(36:14):
for you certainly, and and and hope people donate to
the to the cause especially, but we really appreciate your strength.
I'm certain that your nephew is really, really thankful for
what you've been able to do in keeping the family
together and keeping his memory well and alive. Thank you
so much for joining me on out Live with Gianna
called well Okay, thank you so much. I want to
(36:50):
thank with your fights again for a powerful interview. If
you enjoying the show, please leave us a reviewer with
us with five stars on Apple Podcast. If you have
any questions for me, please email me at out loud
at gingristre sixty dot com and I'll try to answer
them in our future episodes, and please sign up for
my monthly newsletter at Gingristre sixty dot com slash out loud.
(37:12):
You can also find me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and
parlor at Giano Caldwell. And if you're interested in learning
more about my story, please pick up a copy of
my bestselling book title Taken for Granted, How Conservatism Can
Win Back to the Americans at Liberalism Failed Special Thanks
to our producer John Cassio, researcher Aaron Klingman, and executive
producers Debbie Myers and speaker New Gingridge, part of the
(37:34):
Gingrids three sixty network
Up next out Loud with Giano called part of the
game which Demetrius Griffin Jr. Was just fifteen years old
when he was burned alive on the West Side of Chicago,
placed in a garbage can, and left to die in
an alley. The teenager's death was ruled a homicide but
remains unsolved. Today. I try to get to the bottom
(00:21):
of what happened. This is outllowed with Giano calledwell, Welcome
back to allowed with Gianno calledwell. I'm Gianno calledwell and
on this week's show, I'm talking about violence in Chicago,
(00:42):
which continues to devastate the city in so many families.
In fact, over the Loan Fourth of July weekend, at
least a hundred and eight people were shot in Chicago,
including two police officers and several children. Two of those
children were girls aged five and six years old. At
least seventeen were killed in the shootings, and another person
(01:04):
was murdered and as stabbing. And just two weeks earlier,
over Father's Day weekend last month, a hundred and ten
people were shot in Chicago. Fourteen of them, including five children,
were killed. That was in less than three days. I
want to tackle this tragic situation in Chicago by going
back to one especially horrific case. In fifteen year old
(01:27):
Demetrius Griffin Jr. Was found dead in a garbage can,
burned beyond recognition in an alley on the West side
of Chicago. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said he
was burned alive following an optopsy law enforcement rulee Demetrius
death at homicide, but his case remains unsolved. His family
(01:50):
is unsatisfied, demanding justice for a boy who was described
as gentle, respectful, and someone who loved dogs. They have
offered rewards for in nation on the Killer or Killers
to learn more. My guests on this week's show is
demetrious aunt Rochelle Sykes, who has continued fighting for a
nephew and seeking answers. Rochelle is also a woman of
(02:12):
faith who works at the new Mount Pilgrim Church in Chicago.
With that, I want to welcome Rochelle Sykes to Outllow
with Giano Caldwell. Thanks so much for coming on. Thank you.
Now you know I've met you before. I actually interviewed
you for Fox News Channel and then I pushed the
(02:33):
Lord Ingram Show to to do the the town hall
on Chicago violence, and you joined joined us then, and
then you joined us for a second UM town hall
the following year. So much has happened in the city
of Chicago. If you look at the numbers. Some have
estimated the fourth of July weekend that was over a
(02:56):
hundred and ten people shot UM so many fatally, I
believe about eighteen and twenty fatally, including two police officers.
What the heck is going on in Chicago? I have
no clue. UM, I see right now, I see if
(03:19):
you know that your child or your significant other, your
loved one, your your grandchildren, your children are doing things
that are not um of legal standards, we need to
come together and turn these people in. We know that, UM,
every child is not perfect. Every child is not perfect.
(03:43):
But when you harbor UM a person that may have
killed or hurts someone, or you know that they're have
a thousands and thousands of guns or just a house
full of gun and ammunition and hanging with the wrong people,
I'd rather you turn that child in. Dame, you stand
(04:03):
at the great fight and much to lower down. And
I a hud agree with you as someone who's from
the city and whose family has also been impacted by
the violence in Chicago. I would rather much rather even
a family member go to jail than to see them
out committing more crimes and endangering the lives of others.
(04:25):
So I really appreciate you saying that, and I want
to I want to get into, um, what happened with
your your nephew, such a young young life, fifteen years
old when this happened. Can you take us back to
that tragic day in when did you know something was wrong?
And how did you find out Demetrius was no longer
(04:48):
with us? Well, it goes back to that Saturday morning. Um,
My mom's birthday was on the nineties. Um, go back
to that Saturday morning. We were picking her. Um, Me
and a couple of other church members were picking her
out to take her out for breakfast to celebrate her
(05:08):
her birthday because the church's pastor's anniversary was that weekend
as well. And so when I pulled up to pick
her up, my sister and my niece was coming out,
and I'm like, Okay, where is she on this early
in the morning, because my this is not a morning person.
She said, well, Demeter has didn't come home last night.
And I was like, okay, what do you need he
(05:30):
didn't come home last night, because that made no sense
because he's never missed a curfew. And she said, well,
he didn't come home last night. And but some odd
meason right away to my mind came what I saw
in the New nes is that they found the body
of block and a half away in a garbage camp,
burned beyond recognition. Um. They had said it was a
(05:54):
small frame. Um man, they said it was a man
at first. So we went on to breakfast and we ate.
We sat in eight and what we was uneas everybody
at the time it was unneas. So we came back,
we came to the church, We did what we needed
to do at the church and bringing that by time
(06:15):
we got back to the house, he would have showed
up when we would know his whereabout. And when we
came back to the house, she said she hasn't seen him.
No one had seen him. And so um, I said, well,
you know it's time that we contact the police because
this is not of his nature. And I did speak
(06:36):
to someone at the police station. They and they asked
me some questions about you know, how tall was he,
how big was he? And and things of that nature.
And then UM, the first thing I had spoken was
teld me, well, I think you wouldn't need to get
some gentraal records. UM. Amberler did go up. I did
(06:57):
um authorize for them to pick up his central records.
And at that point it was a way. Yet we waited.
UM that was that was out. Saturday we waited. Sunday
we attended church. UM we helped our pastor celebrate um
(07:17):
his anniversary because that's what we would have done naturally. UM,
and we just prayed that the outcome wasn't the outcome
that we were feeling it love. UM. We did not
tell pastor. UM. We did tell one of the associate
ministers so that someone at the church wouldn't know what
(07:39):
was going on because the meet was also a member
of the church and baptized and UM Christian at New
Mount killed me. So we didn't tell pastor. UM. Monday
came around. I didn't let him know that Monday, and
UM he was a little bit distraught about it. UM
about three something, UM I got calm um to come
(08:05):
that the police was there and my time I got
there that you will leave it and they had identified
him UM by his dental records stepped out? Was him?
I mean if the house was full of people and
polsal screaming when I when I walked up, folks we screaming.
You can just hear people screaming from outside. And to
(08:27):
say that when I say that, I pulled up in
a car to a house where the door was closed
and I can hear screaming, you need to No one
heard him scream in that alley. He was birth alive.
No one heard him scream in that alley. Are we
going about our business so much that we don't recognize
(08:51):
when there's something wrong and to report it? Are we
that afraid that we cannot report when the client is
going on. When you see something out there, you don't
say anything you see something wrong. If you saw a
young person walking down the street with a handgun in
the hand, you wouldn't call the police. That's the part
(09:12):
that disturbing to me is that we are allowing them
to take over, and then they are getting younger and
younger people to do these clients because they're getting a
flap on the rim. At some point we have to
stand up and say enough is enough. And it starts
(09:35):
you're you're absolutely correct. And every time I hear this story,
it really brings tears to the eyes of so many
that Loria Ingram heard the story and she began crying
on air. Um, I think that is it's just deplurable.
What has happened to your nephew and what has happened
in the city of Chicago, and it seems to be
(09:57):
no answers to what's going on one in fact, things
have gotten worse, not better. They've gotten worse. And you
wonder and you mentioned you said, you know, they get
a slap on a risk and that goes back to
the County prosecutor's office, who's allowed over twenty five people
off without charging them. And these were felony cases, some
(10:19):
of them include murder. Knowing what happened to your your nephew,
how does that make you feel? It makes me sick
to my stomach because one of those people could have
been the person that murdered my nephew. I have no answers,
I have no closure. I've had no sleep. I mean,
I have nothing. Nothing we had we went from we
(10:44):
didn't even have a funeral. There was nothing to say
goodbye too. They met us at the at the funeral
I mean at the cemetery with the casket. That's how
we said Goodbut we had a memorial service and it
was over seven. Well here, but it's not the same.
That's not the same. It's different when there's someone that
(11:05):
passes yea um um elder age and someone that passes
that has been sick, because then you get too to
sit with that person and you get to um talk
with that person and get to you know, let them
know that it's okay. But when someone is matched from
(11:27):
you with no means of an explanation of m it's
a hard thing to deal with. My family is torn apart,
and I for sure there's other families like mine with
no no resolution, no answer, and one't why this is
continually to happen. And then some people won't say anything
(11:49):
or do anything until it hit your front door. You
need to start thinking to now, you need to start
doing something now. Anybody in my family know that I
will turn them in without a doubt. I will have
the stuff without a doubt. I'd rather you be alive
(12:11):
and locked up, and then my whole family know through
the misery of having to put you in the ground,
not knowing what happened to you and wishing we could
have done something new. And and with that being the case,
as you just as you just said, you would rather
someone go to jail than throw their lives away by
(12:31):
shooting someone else and then possibly in and up dead themselves.
You would rather them go to jail. And I understand that.
And let me ask you this question. And I know
that your nephew you were responsible for him. Was his
mom not around? Was his dad not around? What was
the situation there? No, his his dad was around. His
(12:51):
dad recently died. Um of Ana. Yeah, I think it
was from a bloken heart, but they will around. But
he was my only nephew, so he's the teeth baby. UM.
When Demetrius was born, he was pretty um I think
he weighed a little bit less than three pounds and
(13:13):
he had these beautiful bluish gray eyes. So he became
everyone's baby because he was the baby of the family
for a long time. And then he was so little
for his age, so he was everybody's baby. So even
though I did a lot of things for him, everybody
actually did a lot of things for him, and UM
(13:34):
took they just took him into his wing because he
was a lovable kid. He had an old soul um.
He loved animals, He did things for the native he
saw someone carrying that he would want to help and
take their spains in the house. Just the type of
kid he loved. Now I'm not he was a good kid,
not involved in any of the gangs or any of
(13:56):
the trouble in Chicago, which typically when I was growing up,
the way people were shot. Of the reason why is
because they were involved in gangs, they hung out with
the wrong people. And certainly these days that doesn't matter anymore.
It's not the same thing. It's not an affiliation thing.
A kid was twenty well, young man twenty years old
on the l just the other day, was a student
(14:19):
of the University of Chicago. A bullet shot through the
train station window and paralyzed them, and his parents just
recently had to make the tough choice of taking him
off of a ventilator. It's happening to a lot of
people in the city of Chicago all over, and it's
(14:42):
not just frustrating. It's become a war zone. You don't
know if you're gonna you enter, you may not survive
and leave. It's horrendous where you need younger and younger
killing gun Why absolutely, you're correct to ask that question,
(15:03):
and more importantly, why is the Cook County Prosecutors Office
letting people off the hook with a slap on the
wrist for doing serious crimes creating more creaking, more havoc
in the communities. Now I want to ask you. I've
read that your nephew, Demetrius, he was murdered by other
black kids because he refused to join a gang. But
(15:24):
some have said in the media that, um, they don't
really know and the case just remains unsolved. Do you
have any information as to the motive of why this
would happen to your nephew. No, I do not. It
may know, it makes it makes no sense because Demetrius,
he was fifteen, but he looked to be nine. He
(15:46):
was only ninety seven pounds. He was only four nine
in heights, so he was a little for his age.
He had a he had a major problem with sitting
in with his age group. So because he didn't he
fit with them, he played with kids that are younger
than he was because he were more of their size.
(16:07):
When he was growing up, there's nothing that you could
not knock on my mother's door and say, well, Demetrius
did this or Demetris did that. There was nothing that
you could knock on her doing to tell her never
had any problems with Demetrius and stood never had to
go up there for him, never had I've never had
(16:32):
up there with him. When he got in high school.
I'm the one that had him in road. He was
only there two weeks. I've never got a call about
that because think he did not play that. My thing
is Demetrius was a little bit scary because he was smaller,
and like I said, he played with smaller kids because
of his weight and height. So when they say that
(16:57):
they wanted him in a game, and I my only
thing that comes to my mind is for what he
can't do anything. He's too scary and he know his
t t A is not going to play that. He
never drank he and he never smoked any marijuana or
didn't even drug. So if they were trying to recruit him,
what would be the purpose of recruiting him, and why,
(17:19):
what would be that purpose? And so that because he's
little work, you think he would get off, but he
wouldn't bloom again we because he knows that's not what
Lee is still into him. We need to pause here
for a break. We will be back. You know, it's
it's one thing that kills some one, but this was
(17:40):
done in such a gruesome way, burning Demetrius alive live,
leaving him to dine a garbage can in the alley.
This is just next level of torturous. There was no
one in his family that was involved in anything that
they were trying to um to respond to and trying
to get to my that was beloved in your family.
(18:01):
There was nothing like that or anything, um that you
can think of that that possibly could have occurred in
my immediate family. And as far as I know, we
have no gang members. And if it is, it's something
that I don't know. Um, I don't have any brothers,
so it's just me and my sister, and I have
(18:23):
a step sister, and UM, my sons are not gang related.
My sons don't even hang on the corner because they
know that. I don't allow that. I cannot imagine what
it could have been, or I mean, I've heard a
(18:44):
bunch of things. I heard it. I've heard it was
gang gang, you know, they wanted him to join a game.
Then I heard it was some some some um skinheads.
I heard something about that, and then somebody said he
might have saw something. None of it makes sense. Nothing
(19:07):
that you can say would make sense to take someone
life by burning them alive. Nothing you could say would
make sense of me hearing this kid yelling for help
and me not doing anything. None of that makes sense.
Nowhere around does that make sense. And that's why. On
(19:29):
the corner of Cortez and Centrol there's a bench, there's
a big red cross, there's a book box for books
for children. We keep that corner clean because you're gonna
remember that this kid was over here and you said nothing.
We make it clean. I keep it clean, I weeds.
(19:50):
I keep that clean. So children can go and sit
on that bench, they can get in a book out
that book box. They can feel comfortable sitting right there
on that corner. Nothing of it, no, nothing makes sense.
All is killing, moll is shooting, shooting up in the air.
(20:14):
What would be the purpose of that. Get a job.
My grandmother her in her grade now because she is
on a plantation, and what we had to go through
to be where we are now, and then look pulling
on that back from us. Yes, and I absolutely agree
with what you're saying, do you feel any level of
(20:34):
frustration with the law enforcement or the politicians that were
around during this time. I think Rama Manuel's in office
during this era. Yes, I do. The superintendent at that
time and the mayor at that time, we contact them
thirty days. I had thirty days of confirmation numbers where
(20:55):
I had called three one one. We have yet to
hear from either one of them. Are you here? Is
I kid you not? Let me tell you just I
just want to make sure I'm hearing you right, you're
saying Mayor Rama Manuel and the superintendent of police at
that time. Neither one of them followed up with you there.
Their office is no one touch base. No, we've never
(21:18):
heard from that. And at that time I did contact
Kim Fox's office because I just needed some help or
where to the county prosecutor. Kim Fox is who you're
referring to, and I was told that they couldn't do
anything until there's an arrest. They couldn't help me until
there was an arrest. That's what I was told by them.
(21:39):
I sent a letter to the White House to our
former president. I got a letter back. I didn't send
a letter requesting any money from him. I needed some help.
I needed help. I didn't know. I don't I don't
know what to do. This is the first this, this
is the first trinity in our family. I don't know
what to do. I need help. I sent back. Then
(22:03):
I got a letter back from the White House. Then
they don't do donation. That's not what I asked you for.
I asked you for help because at that point, we
didn't know if it was a serial killer out here,
because who does that to a young person, a child?
So we didn't know if it was a serial killer
out here. We've had a go find me page, We've
(22:26):
had that open too. I did get a foundation set
up for him to help with maybe getting detectives, just
to help with the justice for that, and then to
try to help other young people. Barry ten thousand dollars,
(22:46):
and five of that came from Laura. Laura Ingram donated
to the to the foundation. Yeah, yes she did. She
she donated five thousand dollars. But my my, my mom
always say you have and and and and I'm not
I'm not a racist person or anything like that. And
(23:08):
I know people donate to things that they want to
donate to. And I just you have. My mom was
very upset because the two little girls that came up
missing in Indiana. And my heart went out Today's family
because I know how they felt. I know how the
family felt, because you know, we've lost our loved one too.
(23:29):
But her thing was is that they had got the
FBI and and then they had got all of this
money from I guess the state, and here he is.
We're out here, we're passing out flyers. Were having fund
raisers on Mother's Day. We stand out there on the corner.
We give out Mother's Day guilt, to give out Father's
Day gifts. We have a um A community block club
(23:54):
every year for the kids. We give our book bags
and clothes and persons and thinks of that nature. They
have or found that they have um A college thing
at at New Mount Pilgen, where Demitrian was a member.
We give out stuff, look the kids that are going
away to college. We do all of that. And it
seems as though that because of the color of his skin,
(24:16):
this is her feeling and I and I understand, she
seemed like it's being fresh um brushed up under the
rug because it doesn't get that same priority toy and
part of the reason for that, and this was very
gruesome um event, obviously, the murder of your nephew. Chicago.
(24:40):
The politicians there, and I'm sure you would agree, have
completely failed the citizens. And it's become a weekly or
daily occurrence of bullets piercing through skin and that's all
it is to them, it seems to be, so why
do why is it that people continue to support the
same the Kim Fox, the Lordy life to the world,
(25:00):
the ones who aren't making a difference. Is these politicians?
Why do people continue to support them in the city
of Chicago knowing that they have not gotten any results.
Could it possibly be not necessarily that they're getting so
much support. Is that so many people are desensipized and
they don't support at all. So that makes the small
(25:23):
amount that do support things so large because there are
so many people that do not vote. There are so
many people that do not vote. Because I talked to
people that have not voted. My vote don't make no difference.
But how you know your vote don't make no different
Your one vote could be the vote that made the difference.
(25:46):
They feel that there is no change, They feel that
things are still gonna be the same. It's going to
be the same thing. There's going to be people making
decisions for low income people that are not low income.
There's a there's people making decisions for people that have
(26:06):
five and six people living in their households and they're
living in a mansion. They want people to make decisions
that live the life that they live. You go on
the West side of Chicago, you can ride down Madison Street.
Tell me how many groceries, schools for food markets you
(26:28):
see in the black neighborhoods. Yeah, their food, their food, deserts.
You got corncus need I mean, what restaurants do you have?
I mean they feel that you're taking away everything from them,
So why should they vote. It won't make a difference.
(26:49):
We're talking to Rochelle's Sykes, who's fifteen year old nephew
was tragically murdered in Chicago, who got much more with
her on the unsolved case. In the violence in Chicago
more broadly, right after break it's not making sense at
all the policy decisions that are being made. It's not
making sense, and it's actually making so many other people
(27:11):
in the community less safe in the city of Chicago.
It's it's beyond troubling, is disgusting, and I wish things
could could change, but it doesn't seem as though there's
been as much value on the black lives that matter
and the folks who just like you mentioned you said, hey,
these people are if you're walking down the street with
a gun, that someone needs to call the police, if
(27:34):
you know who the shoot is, they need to be
turned in. Those black lives matter, and if you if
you don't, If you don't, then you're obviously saying, um,
the antithesis of it that they don't matter in that case.
So it really needs to be outraged full scale, not
just with the people like you who you're you had
this beloved nephew who died in a very gruesome way,
(27:56):
who was murdered in a grucive way. But everyone needs
to live their voice up. It needs to be a
complete community that refused to capitulate to the gang members
who want to take over their neighborhoods. Absolutely, would you
would you agree with that? I agree with that, And
then they shouldn't have to live in their house and
be afraid that if I turned you in, they're gonna
(28:19):
tell you I turned you in, and then they're coming
after me or I turned you in and you get
to court and because the system is over proud, and
they let you go, which has happened a number of
times in Cook County, especially in the Cook County Jail
during the COVID area. A lot of folks were let
out who went on to commit crimes. And that's not
just in Cook County, but that's across the country. People
(28:41):
were let out and they went on to commit other crimes,
including killing people. You know, I want to ask you,
because I know you're a woman of faith and you
work for the new Mount Pilgrim Church in Chicago, how
is your faith factored into how you've dealt with demetrius death.
That's the only thing that had count me. Um I
(29:03):
Um was once asked and I had to look at
myself and I did What did I forgive the person
that killed the Matris? And I have to be honest,
Even though I believe in God, I know God as
ahead of my life, I don't forgive them. I feel
(29:23):
sorry for them because there has to be something seriously
wrong with you to do what you did and be
able to sleep at night, because like I said, I
haven't slept in five years. I leapt straight through a
night in five years. I can hear it that look
what calling my name? I can hear him calling. So
(29:43):
I feel sorry for you because there's no way you
can be resting, and for everybody that hurts him and
didn't say nothing. There's no way you could be wrestling.
I wasn't there and I ain't resting. But if it
wasn't for God, I don't think I would have bade
it through this far. I don't even sit on that corner,
poor weeds. I don't think I could put the events together.
(30:04):
That's God in me, and I knew that this outcome
has something, something bigger. I don't know what it is,
but I know it does. Now. What would you tell
Demetrius if you can speak to him today, in this moment.
I'm sorry T T let you down. I am so
sorry because I always told him I would take care
(30:25):
of him. I always told if you t T will
always be here for him. And I feel like I
have failed him, and I would I. I just would
say I am so sorry because you had to be
through some tremendous pain for that to happen to you,
and I am sorry. And if if I could trade
(30:47):
places with him. I would trade places with him right down,
because I don't know what he had was capable that
could have been the next president. I am sorry. I
would I am so sorry, And if I could trade places,
I would trade places like I would beg he ever
looked to just take me and let him go. That
(31:08):
is very tough to hear. But I can tell you
right now you did not fail your nephew, not one bit.
And I'm sure if he was here, he would thank
you for continuing to fight on in his name, like
there's so many other young people in Chicago who lost
their lives and they didn't have Rochelle Sykes too, to
(31:29):
chase down the police if you will, to try to
get answers and work with politicians to try to get
something done, solve solve this, this hainous, hainous crime. So
I'm sure he would be thankful for you being there
for him and in the family as you have been.
Thank you. Yeah, but it hurts so bad, I mean
(31:53):
especially I don't know if it's the not knowing or
do I really want enough? And I just my heart
hurts to see all these young babies, you know, they
don't know one day from another riding in the back
of a car, and the next thing you know, they're
(32:14):
they're they're dead. I mean, you've got all these young
mothers and fathers and I don't know where the term
because you know you you took in my breath away.
You took in my breath away. I mean, to give
birth to a child, it's not an easy thing, and
deniting raising one is even harder. And then someone else
(32:35):
that has no care about life just can walk past
and take all of that away from a person when
they killed. Do they know how prominent that is. You're
hurting the person you killed, You're hurting all the other
people who left behind, even your own family when they
(33:00):
catch you. You got Mama at the courthouse crying, Grandma
at the courthouse crying. We got cousins and stuff, gotta
send you money, with money on your books, you got
the person that was murdered. Family don't know how to
put stuff together, don't know how to get it together.
I don't want how to make decisions from that moment forward,
(33:23):
because all they knew was their child, their grandchild, their cousin,
their nephews. They need to know the extent of that
one decision that they made. It's not hurting that person
you killed, it's hurting me everybody else because now this
(33:44):
community is to us. Now, this lady get to go
to the grocery store to get her groceries because somebody
killed somebody on the corner. Now you've got a whole
lady that I can't get food in her own home.
He had to go sit on her porch, can't stay
play out in the streets. Something's gotta give. We gotta
(34:07):
stand off of something because we're falling down for everything. Yes, ma'am,
do you think you've ever run for public office? No,
I'm honest. I'm honest, and unfortunately I might not have
a good filter owner on my mouth, but I'm honest.
(34:27):
I'm gonna tell it like it is. If it ain't right,
it ain't right. Yes, ma'am, and and and and I'm
with you. And I want to thank you for sharing
demetrius story. And as you fight on, um, I definitely
want my listeners to be involved in the fight with you.
(34:48):
So if you will let us know where can people
donate or help in other ways to find justice for Demetrius. Well, Um,
they can go into any US banks and give them
justice for Demetrius Griffin Jr. He has an account set
up there. UM there's also a god funding page. We
(35:10):
would love to have a a community youth center where
we teach life skills till UM ages five to eighteen,
help them apply for college and make sure they get
into make sure they get a g D. If they
need tutoring, if they need counseling. To um help provide
all of that for them. Um, they can do that,
(35:33):
or they can just if they want to just send
a check they can always then one to New Mount
Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, but make it out to Justice
for Demetrius and the addresses forty three oh one West
Washington Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, six o six to food. They
(35:54):
can do either you those and anything will help. And
its Metrius, uh and you want to spell it for
folks how its spelled out? D E M E, T
R I E S and Griffin g R I F
F I N jor Okay, Well, we're gonna be praying
(36:14):
for you certainly, and and and hope people donate to
the to the cause especially, but we really appreciate your strength.
I'm certain that your nephew is really, really thankful for
what you've been able to do in keeping the family
together and keeping his memory well and alive. Thank you
so much for joining me on out Live with Gianna
called well Okay, thank you so much. I want to
(36:50):
thank with your fights again for a powerful interview. If
you enjoying the show, please leave us a reviewer with
us with five stars on Apple Podcast. If you have
any questions for me, please email me at out loud
at gingristre sixty dot com and I'll try to answer
them in our future episodes, and please sign up for
my monthly newsletter at Gingristre sixty dot com slash out loud.
(37:12):
You can also find me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and
parlor at Giano Caldwell. And if you're interested in learning
more about my story, please pick up a copy of
my bestselling book title Taken for Granted, How Conservatism Can
Win Back to the Americans at Liberalism Failed Special Thanks
to our producer John Cassio, researcher Aaron Klingman, and executive
producers Debbie Myers and speaker New Gingridge, part of the
(37:34):
Gingrids three sixty network
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