NATIONAL CITY, Calif. (KGTV) — Elijah Smith, 12, was shot and killed at an abandoned house party in National City in November. One month later, few witnesses have come forward and police still have made no arrests.
As grieving family and friends laid Elijah to rest on Thursday at Funeraria Del Angel in Chula Vista, ABC 10News checked back in with National City Police Department's Detective Mark Segal.
Segal said the investigation is still ongoing, and there are no named suspects or arrests made yet.
Segal said the investigation has been challenging because of the age demographic the department is dealing with in Elijah's case, which mainly consists of teenagers and young adults.
"We have identified people anywhere from 12 years old to their early twenties [who were at that party], so you have a wide swath of individuals that are coming from a wide variety of neighborhoods all over South County," Segal said.
Segal said several parents initially brought their children to the police department to share tips. but he believes there are more who know what happened to Elijah because there were more than 200 people at the house party the night Elijah died.
Segal said he believes the witnesses are just scared to talk to the police.
"There's probably fear of retribution for attending that party, and we're having a hard time with young people coming forward to share what they know," Segal said. "They're just hesitant about being labeled a snitch or rat or going against their friends or their group and potentially being the one that helps police."
Segal said there's a combination of challenges the department is running into dealing with young adults who could know something about the gunman, from minors to alcohol, possibly drugs, and illegal firearms, which are all reasons why witnesses are holding back.
Segal also said there are possible witnesses with prior run-ins with the law or family members with priors who don't want any more trouble with the police. However, Segal said he's hopeful that Elijah's case will be solved, and the department is planning to bring in more resources to help find the gunman.
To call Crime Stoppers, the number is 888-580-8477.
To submit an anonymous tip, visit: https://p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=409#
