MILWAUKEE -- Funeral services will be held this Friday for the 12-year-old Milwaukee boy who prosecutors say was killed by his grandfather.
The life of Andre R. Smith II will be honored on Friday, September 10 at Solomon's Temple Evangelistic Ministries, located at 2207 W. Center St. in Milwaukee.
A visitation will be held at 10:30 a.m., and a memorial service will follow at 11:30 a.m.
A GoFundMe campaign has been established to benefit Andre's family. Click or tap here if you'd like to donate.
Milwaukee Police say they were called out to a home near 46th and Glendale late last month, where they discovered Andre with blunt force injuries. They took him to the hospital, and he later died. Police say Andre's 8-year-old brother was also hospitalized.
Andre's sister and grandmother describe him as a bright, young boy.
"He made me a big sister, I mean, I love him with all my heart," said Andre's sister, Shatya Martina. "And he’s the first little brother I actually called mine, and I took care of and watched him grow up."
"He was a happy kid," said Andre's grandmother, Illysha McCroy. "He loved Minecraft, Roblox, Legos, he watched the championship game with me. It’s just so hard to fathom."
Andrez Martina, Andre's grandfather, faces five charges in the death, according to a criminal complaint: First degree intentional homicide, two counts of physical abuse of a child, neglecting a child, and possession of a firearm by a felon. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
