In the summer of 2024, on a warm Sunday evening in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 15-year-old Amiller Penn, known to his loved ones as 'Milli,' was enjoying a game of football with his friends in an empty lot. This ordinary moment of youthful joy was shattered in an instant when Penn was shot and killed. The male teenager was unarmed, and his death was quickly ruled a homicide, leaving a profound sense of loss and a community searching for answers.
The investigation into Amiller Penn's murder
was a long and arduous one, stretching on for nearly a year. Despite hundreds of witnesses being present at the time of the shooting, fear and a culture of 'no snitching' initially hampered the investigation, much to the frustration of law enforcement and Penn's grieving family. His father, Corey Penn, became a vocal advocate for his son, tirelessly seeking justice and pleading for witnesses to come forward. The family's pain was amplified by the silence, and in a poignant plea for information, a billboard was erected with Amiller's picture and the haunting question, 'DO YOU KNOW WHO MURDERED ME?'.
A significant breakthrough in the case came with the airing of a reality crime show, 'All Access PD: Grand Rapids,' which featured Penn's story. The episode is credited with revitalizing interest in the case and encouraging witnesses to finally step forward with crucial information. This new wave of tips, combined with digital evidence found on the suspect's phone, ultimately led investigators to make an arrest.
In May of 2025, nearly a year after the fatal shooting, 17-year-old Cartiyae Pascal was charged with open murder and a felony weapons charge in connection with Amiller Penn's death. At the time the charges were brought, Pascal was already incarcerated for a separate, unrelated crime. Authorities have described the motive behind the killing as 'typical teenage boy stuff.' As the legal proceedings against Pascal began, with the case moving to circuit court, Amiller's family expressed a mixture of relief and continued sorrow, emphasizing that while the arrest was a step towards accountability, it would never bring their beloved son back.
