COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the mother of 6-year-old Londynn and 9-year-old Demitrius Wall'neal, talking about her kids in the past tense is still difficult.
“Imagine how painful that is. What is going to be the resolution here?" said Brittany.
On the evening of Dec. 7, 2021, Columbus police responded to a report of shots fired near the Winchester Lakes apartment complex. Three people were found inside a parked vehicle with several bullet holes. Londynn, Demitrius and Jones' boyfriend, 22-year-old Charles Wade, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Brittany wanted to be sure about what she said, so she wrote a letter and read it.
"Those people had no mercy when they came to my home with the intent to murder, to take a life. Instead, they took three. They knew what they were going there to do, a premeditated assassination,” Brittany read, with tears running down her face.
Three months after the shooting, police released surveillance video that shows two suspects running up to the car and firing several rounds before running off.
“I'm very familiar with the street code and children are off limits. There's no street code when it comes to innocent children,” she said.
The details of the shooting are still jarring, but this is what Brittany wants people to know: “They shot the car up 68 times, no hesitation, hitting my son, Demetrius, 15 times, 3 times in the head and hitting Londynn two. If it wasn't for her big brother covering to protect her, she would have been shot just as many.”
The painful memory of the shootings forced Brittany to move, but she wanted to meet us where her kids had so many great memories.
“It's hard. They would be playing at this very park if they were still here today, going to school,” she explained.
Columbus police homicide detective Terry Kelley is the lead detective on the case.
“This one bothers me a lot,” Kelley said.
He's retiring in the next month, something he considered delaying until he can make an arrest in this case.
“When you get something like this, especially involving two young children that you can't put down before you leave, it is definitely difficult,” Kelley said.
Kelley said he has a good idea about who killed the two innocent children and Wade, but needs someone else to come forward with more information before he can make the arrest.
“Say the name Demitrius, say the name Londynn. I'm sure they have said the name Charles because I believe that Charles was the target of this. Londynn and Demitrius were there and if they had the ability to look into who Londynn and Demitrius were, I just wonder if they would still do it,” he said.
While there is reward money being offered for information leading to an arrest, both Kelley and Brittany hope someone comes forward because it is the right thing to do.
“All it will take is one person to get Demitrius and Londynn and Charles the justice they deserve. What are you waiting for? For it to be your child?” Brittany said.