MILWAUKEE — On a frigid night Monday, dozens of people gathered on 23rd and Wisconsin to pay their respects to Purcell Pearson, a recent UW-Whitewater graduate.
Pearson, 22, was shot and killed just before 12:30 p.m. Saturday. The suspect, or suspects, remain on the run.
RELATED: Friends, family mourn after shooting death of UW-Whitewater graduate
TMJ4 News sat down with one of Pearson’s uncles before the vigil, Tearman Spencer, who is Milwaukee’s City Attorney.
“My nephew Purcell was not just a body lying in the street bleeding out. It was a great deal to Purcell more than that,” Spencer said.
Spencer said the amount of love his nephew received, even in the freezing cold, is a representation of the positive life he lived.
“He was selfless. He always put others first,” he added.
RELATED: 22-year-old man shot, killed near 22nd and Wisconsin Ave.
Spencer believes his nephew was killed during the sale of designer Cartier glasses just before 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Police have not released any details officially about what they believe may have happened.
On Feb. 3, three days before the shooting, Pearson posted a pair of Cartier glasses for $380 on a Facebook “Buy Sell and Trade” group. Facebook is where he also sold skincare products from his own business, Pyour.
“I don’t think for one moment, he thought, that trying to provide these glasses, someone would rob him and take his life,” Spencer said.
Spencer said he’s very confident police have the information they need to solve this case. In the meantime, he urges anyone who knows something to speak up.
“Just imagine if this was your brother, sister or mother. What would you do? What would you want to know? There is never a right to take someone’s life,” he said.
At last check, police have yet to make an arrest in the case.
