INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — It’s been three years since De’Shaun Swanson’s mom watched him play football with the other kids on a football field at Tarkington Park.
All she has now are memories.
"It's hard to come back to the area. It is, because you relive it," said Shannon Swanson.
Swanson's talking about the night her 10-year-old died when someone opened fire driving by his Butler-Tarkington home. De'Shaun was playing outside.
"I was down the street actually, heard the shots. Didn't expect it to be my little brother," said Shyanne Morris.
On the third anniversary of his murder, De'Shaun’s family and friends remembered him with a balloon release at the park where they shared so many happy memories.
"I thought I would feel different or maybe it would be different or it would go away, but it still feels like we just got the call yesterday. It's still very hard for us," said Morris.
The murder remains unsolved.
"I think about it every day, like it was yesterday," said Donnell Hamilton, De'Shaun's football coach.
"Words can't explain how we feel that no one's speaking up about a child that was killed," said Morris.
Before the balloon release, De'Shaun's family handed out flyers asking for help solving his murder. It's something they've done every year in the neighborhood where he was killed. They believe the answers are there.
"We are hurt, and if they know something about who did this to little man, please, please, please say something. Help us," Swanson pleaded.
De'Shaun's family said until that happens, they won't give up trying to find answers
"It won't stop," said Morris.
They need to know who took De'Shaun's young life and changed their lives forever.