NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - "I am never going to get my son back. His birthday is next week, and I am in pain," said Latanya Grady.
Latanya Grady is filled with heartache speaking of her beloved son, Andre Grady.
"He was love on wheels. You couldn't do nothing but love him; he made everyone feel special and happy," said Grady.
Andre, paralyzed and wheelchair bound from being shot twice in drive-by shootings, would have turned 32 next week.
"It broke my heart. My son laid under a house a whole day waiting to be rescued before he passed away," said Grady.
Andre was found by friends and family, bludgeoned to death and stuffed in a crawl space last December on 24th Street in Newport News.
"He laid in the cold waiting for someone to help him, and no one did," said Grady.
No arrests have been made, and Grady says the upcoming holidays are leaving her gut wrenched.
"This year, there will be an empty spot at my table," said Grady.
The Grady family has been talking with state and local leaders to support the immediate activation of a police search when a person with a disability or mental illness is reported missing. They would like to call it "Andre's Alert."
"If this response system could help another person from having to feel the pain my family is feeling, then my job is done," said Grady.
In honor of Andre's birthday, the family plans to have a community gathering on December 1 near the spot he was killed.
