MILWAUKEE — On a chilly January night, tear-stained cheeks fight through the sharpness of a constant brisk breeze near 60th and Fond du Lac. Typically, it would be enough for even the toughest person to wince but it’s no comparison to the pain they have in their hearts for their family and friend, Andre Gregory.
Gregory, 26, was killed early Sunday morning outside of Eve Lounge on Fond du Lac Avenue. Police say a fight broke out at the club and Gregory was shot and killed while trying to break it up. Two others were injured.
“I love you big bro,” Jamilla Gregory said. “Long live my brother, my baby brother. Stop playing with that man.”
While celebrating his life, the emotions took over for Gregory’s sister Jamilla, collapsing into the arms of her sisters and other friends and family. Nearly four days after he was killed, the pain is still fresh as reality sets in of a life without Andre.
“I lost a brother, but he lost his life,” Sade Rose, Andre’s sister said. “I feel empathetic for him because he did not deserve to go like that.”
Sade, Jamilla, and their other friends and family flanked their sides, huddling together for a different kind of warmth.
The warmth of a family coming together through heartache.
“I’m glad he was loved,” Rose said. “That’s what he wanted most. Just love and support from everybody. He wanted to see everybody come together. That’s what he would have wanted. I’m sad it had to come like this.”
“We lost our brother, but everyone lost that caring, kind person that I feel everybody needs,” Toneisha Beals, Andre’s sister said. “We there for everybody that was there for us.”
As balloons released into the dark night sky, the celebratory screams to the heavens quickly turned to silence.
were
A steely realization that the man who kept them all together wasn’t there physically, but only there in spirit.
But still, even in death, doing what he did best. Keeping them together.
“He’d probably be a little irritated because we did it after he was gone,” Rose said through a melancholy smile. “But he’d be happy too because we’re trying and taking that step for him, so he didn’t go in vain. I think he’d feel bittersweet. Just how we feel is how he’d feel.”
Milwaukee Police say they are still searching for unknown suspects. Anyone with information is asked to call 414-935-7360 or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 414-224-TIPS (8477).
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