And while that family grieves their son, the Petillo family is still mourning the loss of their daughter, 17-year-old Jasmine Petillo, who was murdered over 5 years ago.
The teenager was stabbed over 50 times in Mahogany Heights back in 2016. Her body was then wrapped in a quilt and dumped in a ditch a few hundred feet from where she was killed. Her family believes she was lured to her death by a friend with promises of a sleepover - and then she was ambushed and killed. And after all this time, police have finally charged on person with her death.
We told you earlier this week that 26-year-old Shereema Neal was remanded on December 17th, but applied for bail and received it this past Monday. She was granted bail because she is 8 months pregnant. But the family says that her bail is outrageous, considering the harshness of the crime she is accused of committing. And we know also that bail is hardly ever granted to accused persons in murder trials.
All that contributes to why the family is outraged and calling on the police to put her back behind bars - and to find the other suspects that were involved.
Voice of: Randy Petillo, Father of Deceased
"All of us still missed her daily, especially me. That child was my eyeball and she was a good kid. We missed our child, so we want justice for our child. I am very outraged about the situation, because 5 years ago when the incident happened, this same young lady was arrested and she got released from the police station. I don't know what tactics they used, but 5 years had gone pass. Just as we were losing hope forensics came back and fingers pointed on her that she was on the crime scene which we already heard that she is a part of it. She inflicted wounds, she helped, she participated - she murdered my child. She had other accomplices. I don't understand why the system would allow somebody to walk the street free when she is like crown evidence, like a witness - she is part of it. I mean how would we get justice is she is walking freely? She can easily skip the town and go. She doesn't have to go to court if she doesn't want. So, we want her behind bars."
Reporter
"How frustrating is it that after 5 years you still have not gotten anybody fully convicted for your daughter's murder?"
Voice of: Randy Petillo, Father of Deceased
"Its very frustrating, because the way how the crime happened in a house, they have evidence, they have blood spilled everywhere, I mean how could the police let this go and left this unturned?"
Voice of: Jillette Petillo, Grandmother
"Right now, I am still mourning for my granddaughter. And then we have to talk about her, I always want to cry and then to hear this news and then the young lady who did it, it's not only she alone, but then she has her crowd and then now they say she come out and she is free. That is not fair. She has no business out here, she business to be in lockdown, because if it was I that did something like that I would have been lockdown, so no man. It's hard, because me and my son when are talking about in the house, we are crying. When her birthday we cry and right now like how I am getting old, I am not feeling good. If my granddaughter was living, she would be taking care of me. And now she is not here to take care of me anymore."
And Jasmine's mother says the past 5 years have been brutal - especially knowing that the accused killer is a relative of hers.
Voice of: Jasmine's Mother
"I feel sad and I feel upset with the police department, because I was at work as a police officer when they called me and tell me that they found my daughter dead. I was protecting people while I couldn't even protect my own daughter and I was pushing for this for a long time. My daughter wasn't only my daughter, she was also my friend and someone who I could talk to when I had problems and for them to do my daughter that, it really upsets me and I think I could have gotten justice a long time ago, because they had enough evidence to pick up whosoever they could have picked up. So why were they not pushing for this case a long time and for her to be walking free, I think it's not justice. She is pregnant, yes, we agree she is pregnant, but there are many people out here who are pregnant, who went and spend their time. So, is she special? Is she the special one? Come on. I believe when she delivers that baby, she should be picked up and sent back to jail, spend your time."
"The young lady is my daughter's cousin from through me, so I think she should feel bad, for you to watch your own family and stabbed her - you are cold hearted, so obviosuly I think you should be in jail for you to kill your own blood."
"When they has just killed my daughter and my officer took me up, because I had the support of officer Garcia and Carla Young, they supported me a lot. My officers were by my side and when they took me up, she came to me and told me certain things and she had a scratch in her face and for you to come and talk to me after you had done that to my daughter, you are cold."
Neal's next court date is scheduled for February.
