COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two and a half years after shots rang out at an east Columbus recreation center, police are continuing the search for multiple suspects after tragically killing a teenage girl.
On June 24, 2021, multiple individuals began firing shots into a crowd of people gathered near the Far East Community Center. Makenzi Ridley, 17, was shot and later died at the hospital.
A teen, named K to conceal their identity, was at the rec center during the attack and spoke to 10TV about what she remembers from that day.
"They started shooting in the crowd and all you see is all these cars, after they shot a couple of times, they immediately got into their cars, everybody is running, everybody is getting into their cars," K said.
At the time, she didn't know Ridley outside of social media but went to the police with the information about what she saw.
"It is such a blur I remember what they were wearing, but faces, it's not spot on," she said.
Ridley had graduated from Northland High School three weeks before the shooting and was close to turning 18.
"She was 17, she was right there. She was excited. She was 6 weeks shy of her 18th birthday and we were planning for that. We were just ready to welcome her into adulthood," said her mother Seneca Ridley-Turner.
Two and half years have passed and Ridley-Turner is still waiting on Columbus police to arrest her daughter's killer.
Despite releasing surveillance video from the day of the shooting, police say they still need more evidence before they can file charges.
"When you have someone who is just in the background, had nothing to do with any of it, just having a good time with her friends and something like this happens it is difficult," said Columbus Police Detective Earl Westfall.
Westfall is hoping that since time has passed, someone may be more willing to come forward with information.
"I think ultimately it is going to take someone who witnessed it, who knows who these guys are who were shooting that day. I do know who a couple of them are, it is just a matter of me being able to have someone to stand up behind the information and say 'this is what I saw,'" he said.
Ridley-Turner ultimately wants justice for her daughter.
"I think it would mean a lot for myself and her friends and it would mean a lot for this city to show that we're not playing, we are safe. We are going to do what we have to do. We are going to seek justice. Our kids matter," she said.