Knoxville Police announced Tuesday that investigators have recovered potential evidence in the shooting death of a 12-year-old.
KPD said Jajuan Latham died in a gang-related shooting Saturday night in Mechanicsville.
On Monday, police detained several persons of interest/witnesses for interviews. As a result of those interviews, investigators recovered potential evidence and new leads.
Kwabena "Beno" Miller is a former gang member now committed to ending gang violence and healing the community.
He said he's "feeling frustrated, sick because, I mean, here it is, you've got the city still mourning the death of Zaevion and in spite of all the hurting mothers, in spite of all the hurting people in our city, you still have the audacity to come into a crowd and shoot where you see children at. I'm disgusted, man."
He said witnesses and others who know something about what happened Saturday night should come forward.
"I don't think snitching has anything to do with you seeing a young boy getting killed in your neighborhood. I don't even consider that snitching," Miller said. "That's a responsibility to step up and promote life in your neighborhood."
KPD spokesman Darrell DeBusk said up to 200 people were in the crowd Saturday night when shots rang out.
"We really need the community's help. We're doing everything we can do. We're asking the community to do what they can do, and that's provide information," DeBusk said. "We know it's out there. We know people know exactly what happened, and we need those people to provide information, and we're talking about the death of a 12-year-old child."
"We got to unite as a city, and we got to take a stand against these renegdges that don't care nothing about hurting mothers, they don't care nothing about hurting fathers, they don't care nothing about a hurting community," Miller said. "If they don't get locked up, then what you think going to happen? People are going to try to take justice into their own hands, and their bloodshed is going to lead to more bloodshed and this cycle is going to continue. So, yeah, this is a situation where we need to justice system to step in and save us from ourselves."
As of Tuesday afternoon, there were no charges in the shooting death of Jajuan Latham.
Anyone with information about the should is asked to call KPD. The anonymous tip line is 865-215-7212.
Original story Monday 6:30 p.m.
Knoxville Police detained several people of interest and/or witnesses in the Saturday night shooting death of a local 12-year-old.
KPD said Jajuan Latham, 12, died in a shooting in Mechanicsville. He had been with his father when the shots rang out.
According to a release, no charges have been placed as of Monday evening.
The funeral service for Jajuan Latham will be Thursday night.
Friends may visit 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday at Overcoming Believers Church, 211 Harriet Tubman St. The funeral will follow.
Burial is set for 10 a.m. Friday at New Gray Cemetery, 2724 Western Ave.
This is a developing story, please check back for more information.