Sierra Miles heart was broken Thanksgiving morning. She said her son was found dead in Indianapolis, Indiana early Thursday.
Miles said her 15-year-old son, Sha’Kiey Moore, went to the gas station Wednesday night around 10 p.m. for a snack. When he didn’t come back, she started to worry.
“Where’s my baby? Where is my baby?” Miles recalled. “I got up and paced. Where is my baby? This is not like him. He say he’s going to come back, he’s going to come back.”
A sleepless night worrying about her son turned into Miles’ worst nightmare.
“How much hate do you have in your heart that you want to kill another human being, especially a kid?” Miles said.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Sgt. Genae Cook said a person at a nearby gas station alerted officers there was a body on the ground in the 3400 block of North Leland Ave., about a block away from 34th St. and Emerson Ave. Cook said police found a teenager there, dead from a gunshot wound.
IMPD nor the Marion County coroner have said who was killed, but Miles said it was her son.
“The coroner came with her camera showing me a picture of my son laying in the street,” Miles said through tears.
Miles said Moore had walked to the gas station after dark plenty of times before and never had a problem.
“You should be able to go somewhere and feel safe and not worry about someone shooting you,” she said.
Neighbors along Leland Ave. said they heard gunshots around 10 or 11 p.m. Wednesday night. Some said they looked outside and didn’t see anything, while others said they didn’t want to risk their own safety checking. Everyone we talked to said gunshots in the area are a common occurrence.
Cook said it appeared the victim was shot overnight, but police didn’t hear anything until someone saw his body the next morning.
“Somebody needed help out here tonight, and nobody called the police,” Cook said. “We need our community to step up. Don’t assume somebody else is going to do it.”
IMPD is asking for anyone in the area with cameras to check the tape to see if they can find anything that could help police.
Miles has a message for whoever shot her son.
“There’s no cause in this world for you to do what you did because if the tables had turned, you wouldn’t want your mother up here feeling like this.”
Miles said she wasn’t able to see her son’s body Thursday morning and was told she’ll have to wait until the coroner’s office reopens Monday.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Detective Mark Howard at the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or email him at Mark.Howard@Indy.gov.
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