PHOENIX — Thanksgiving was tough for Berdie Bitsui.
"The hurt will never go away," she says. "It will always be there."
Her son, 25-year-old Drew James, was shot and killed in April outside his apartment complex near 57th Ave and Thomas, according to Phoenix Police.
He left behind his mother, siblings, two children and a pregnant fiancé. He'd never get to meet his third child.
"I don’t think he should have been dead," Bitsui says. "I just don't understand why."
Bitsui, along with Phoenix Police, is asking the public to come forward if they saw or know anything about the shooting. At this point, police can't figure out a motive or a reason why anyone would want to kill the father.
"I describe this as a thousand-piece puzzle and I only have maybe 300 of those pieces put together," says Detective Kevin Ham with Phoenix Police.
"We believe somebody saw something," he adds.
Some witnesses told police they saw a man in his early 20s fire shots and run toward a car.
"Those witnesses say they also heard a female voice in that vehicle," Detective Ham says. "Also possibly driving the vehicle."
Bitsui has some suspicions of her own.
"I feel like it’s somebody he knew," she says.
Phoenix police say what they believe is the gray getaway car was caught on camera at a neighbor’s house. If you look closely, you can see the front left wheel is missing a hubcap. Police are hoping the car could lead them to the killer.
"For somebody to be a coward and shoot him down like that, it makes me angry in a way but then it makes me sad," Bitsui says. "I just want justice for my son. He didn’t deserve to go that way."
If you know anything about this case, you can contact Phoenix Police or Silent Witness at 480-W-I-T-N-E-S-S or 1-800-343-TIPS.
The reward for tips that can solve this case is up to $5,000.