For Detroit mother Jackie Horne, tragedy struck twice in less than two years. In October 2009, she lost one of her sons after he was hit by a car. Then, on June 20, 2011, her other son, Michael Perkins, a 22-year-old Black man, was killed in a violent carjacking.
That day, Michael was in his parked Mercury Marquis on the 16800 block of Ardmore Street in Detroit. According to police, two men approached the vehicle, threw Michael out of his car, and shot him. The assailants then drove off in his car, leaving him for dead in the street.
The loss was devastating for his family, particularly for his mother, who was now grieving the deaths of both of her sons. Two months after the murder, the 49-year-old mother made a public plea for help in finding justice and closure.
"I would not like to see another parent go through what I have been trough in the last two years, with the loss of two boys," she said.
Jackie Horne urged the community to step forward, believing that someone had information that could solve her son's murder. "It's not going to stop until someone comes forward, until someone speaks up and tells what they know," she said. "We have to be our brother's keeper, we have to have unity." As of August 2011, no arrests had been made, and Michael Perkins' case remains unsolved. His mother asked that anyone with information call the police.
