INDIANAPOLIS — Keondre' Davidson was celebrating his 19th birthday with friends and family when a man came to his north-side home and asked him to come outside.
Davidson met the man on the night of May 12 in the driveway of the home in the 3700 block of North Salem Street, a neighborhood near West 38th and North Meridian streets.
They exchanged words. The man pulled a gun and started shooting.
Davidson died at an area hospital. His girlfriend was injured by gunshots and survived.
Seven months later, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has made no arrests. Davidson's homicide remains unsolved.
"This is not fair," Davidson's mother Chrystal Davidson told WRTV. "What we're gonna do is start to stop the violence. Put up the gloves. Fight if you got to fight. Don't put up the guns."
There has been a record-setting262 homicides in Indianapolis this year. About 61% remain unsolved.
"It's not only our families, it's they families, it's everybody's families that is going through this," Davidson said. "It's a lot of people going through this and it's crazy how don't nobody want to talk."
Davidson's aunt, Jamy Davidson, said she was inside preparing food when she heard the gunshots.
"As soon as I pulled back the foil on the food, it was just so many gunshots," Jamy Davidson said. "It went on and on and on."
She went outside when the shooting stopped. She said Keondre' was on the ground, fighting for his life.
"I seen my nephew take his last breath," Jamy Davidson said. She said the family gave detectives information that might lead to a suspect. Jamy Davidson said she is frustrated that police appear to have made no progress in the investigation.
IMPD said detectives are working on this case and it remains an open investigation.
"Sometimes there is one piece of forensic evidence or one witness that is needed to move a case from having a suspect to a person in custody," IMPD spokesman Lt. Shane Foley said in an email. "This reinforces the importance of members of the community coming forward with any information they have on a case because they never know what piece of evidence might be needed to result in detectives being able to make an arrest."
Keondre' Davidson's death brought pain that extends into the community, his family said. He was so much more than a dot on a map or number on a spread sheet.
"He had a beautiful smile," Davidson's grandmother Edna Hansbrough said. "I don't care what kind of mood he was in, he was always smiling."
Davidson worked at a shipping and warehouse job but wanted to go to school to learn a construction-related trade.
All his life Davidson was a hard worker, his family said. When he was about 13, he would get up early to help his grandmother deliver the Indianapolis Star on her paper route.
As a high schooler, Davidson spent several summers on the Tarkington Teen Work Crew at the Martin Luther King Community Center, 40 West 40th St. Work crew members earn a stipend for cleaning up neighborhood parks and other jobs.
He would often call or visit his grandmother just to make sure she was OK. Davidson leaves behind two children, four sisters and long list of friends and family who loved and cared for him, his mother said.
The King Community Center set up a fund that raised nearly $5,000 for the family. Davidson's mother said she hopes to encourage neighborhood youth to put down their guns and pick up the boxing gloves.
"I want to start like a boxing club. If you want to fight, fight it out," Davidson said.
"What I do want to do is stop the beef. Just stop."
Foley expressed sympathy for the Davidson family, and to all those who have lost someone to homicide.
"No family should have to bury their loved one as a result of gun violence," Foley said. "Witnessing the results of the violence first hand is that much worse. Detectives are continuously appreciative of information leading to the identification of potential suspects."
Police are urging anyone with information on Davidson's death to contact Detective Brad Nuetzman at 317-327-3475 or brad.nuetzman@indy.gov. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477 (TIPS).
Related: 19-year-old shot to death at his birthday party on north side
Record homicides: Indianapolis leaders, activists discuss reasons why city tied homicide record | These are the people we've lost to violence in 2021 | Breaking down the staggering number of homicides in Marion County
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on Twitter: @vicryc.
