On a tragic Christmas Day in 2014, the life of 22-year-old Christina Samuel was cut short in a senseless act of violence in Detroit, Michigan. A recent graduate of Indiana Tech with a degree in criminal justice, she was a bright young woman with dreams of attending law school and a passion for helping troubled youth. The youngest girl of nine siblings, she was visiting family and friends for the holidays, her future full of promise.
That evening, Christina was sitting in a car with a
24-year-old male friend on Carlisle Street, in the area of Gratiot Avenue and 8 Mile Road. They were catching up, reminiscing about their childhood, when a dark-colored Lincoln pulled up alongside them. Two men emerged from the vehicle and opened fire on the parked car, shattering the night's peace and Christina's dreams. She was fatally wounded in the attack, and her friend was critically injured and left in a coma.
In the wake of the shooting, the Detroit Police Department launched an investigation. Surveillance footage from a nearby home captured a speeding car, believed to be the suspect's vehicle, blowing through a stop sign moments after the shooting. Despite the video evidence and pleas from Christina's heartbroken family for anyone with information to come forward, the case has grown cold. No arrests have ever been made, and the identities of the two men responsible for Christina Samuel's murder remain unknown. Her family continues to seek justice, remembering a vibrant young woman who was innocently taken too soon.
