SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) - It has been 10 years since 12-year-old Keith Passmore was shot and killed outside a party in Savannah.
A decade has passed and still no suspect has been arrested. 10 years after the crime, Keith's family talks exclusively to WSAV about their pain and their hope.
That pain has never gone away for Tammy Carter. She lost her son 10 years ago, changing her life forever.
"The first year was the PTSD stuff because the gunshots were so close," says an emotional Carter. "I would hear those gunshots and hear him crying calling my name."
Keith was sitting in a car outside a house party on Vicksburg Drive three years ago with his uncle. It was a party he begged to go to with some of his older teenage friends.
Carter says the party was no more than three streets from their house. As Keith and his uncle were sitting in the car, someone approached them with a gun. His uncle sped off and the gunman opened fire.
Carter says she spent 5 years in a depressive state. She quit her job, losing even more family members. At the same time, trying to find out who killed Keith, why he died, and why has no one ever talked about it.
"Everyone told me they're going to arrest somebody within three days," said Carter. "and they didn't. Now many, many years late, still no arrest. Then you try to move on and then you wait a little longer and then you take a step back. You wonder where he is at and what he would look like."
Carter and her family have made pleas for help before, in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
"We were told there were people who have not come forward. Why?" said Darlene Schiebler, Keith's Aunt, in 2017. "It would be the right thing to do. We don't want anyone else to go through this, it's time for these kinds of things to stop and we want justice for Keith and we want an arrest."
An arrest that won't come without someone stepping up. Someone from the party offering information, a name or a clue.
Carter hopes now that time has passed maybe there's a person who can't hold back anymore and will offer the one thing she wants: answers. And someone to pay for taking her baby away.
"What would [Keith] be doing? Would you be married? What? Do you have a girlfriend? You know, because I don't know if it was an accident. Never meant to happen. But it's been ten years, and someone from that family could have said something."
WSAV reached out to the Savannah Police Department (SPD) about this crime. They have told us they are 'looking into" its status and will provide updates when they are available.
Police say dozens of people were outside the party when the shots rang out, and they are asking for someone to come forward.
If you have know anything about Keith's death, please contact Savannah Police investigators or you can make an anonymous tip to Savannah-Chatham Crime Stoppers at 912-234-2020. A cash reward is still available for information that leads to an arrest.
