Colorado family pleads for more answers following shooting death of their son
Police in Commerce City say they're still trying to learn more information about a deadly shooting that claimed the life of a teenager, including where the gun came from. One Colorado is hoping someone will be held accountable for taking their son's life.
It's been an emotionally unsettling week for Joy Herrera and Ray Reinhardt as they start to realize their 16-year-old son, Envy Reinhardt, won't be able to make new memories with his family.
"It really just feels like my son is at school, or he's at his friends or he's at his girlfriends. It does not feel that he's gone," said Joy.
To them, Envy was a kindhearted young man who was as talented as an athlete as much as he was an aspiring painter.
"Whether it was a sport or swimming across the ocean snorkeling, he just, he really could just do everything," said Joy. "His work would be put in art shows from the school."
"His energy, just everything about him," said Ray.
It was Monday night, less than two hours after getting off the phone with her son, when Joy learned Envy was shot and killed inside an SUV near the intersection of Tichy Boulevard and Kearney Street.
"To hear he was just gone already was just, there was just no second chance, there was not even a fight," said Joy.
Joy says her son was out with a couple of friends that night, but she never would've imagined there would be a gun with them.
"Supposedly it's just said that the other boy in the back seat that killed my son was messing around with a gun and it went off and shot him, but something just tells me there's more to this," she said.
While Commerce City police say they do not believe the shooting was malicious, Joy wants more answers and accountability.
"How is it an accident that you killed your friend, that he's seen you so close as a friend and you just left him," said Joy. "I just believe that my son got caught up with the wrong crowd."
Initially, the teen suspected of shooting Envy that night was facing multiple charges, including second-degree murder. However, Commerce City police tell CBS Colorado the district attorney's office only accepted a manslaughter charge.
As Envy's family continues to be showered with flowers and support, their hope is that other families educate their children about gun safety.
"They literally don't realize how dangerous this could be and the consequences of these things, whether you're the one being killed or the one going down for the crime," said Joy.
"I just want what's right, for justice to be served and just keep your loved ones close. We shouldn't have to be burying our kids," said Ray.
Commerce City police say they are still looking into where the gun that was used in this shooting came from.
