Three years after 18-year-old Dennell Kemp Jr. was gunned down at a Detroit stoplight, his mother is still waiting for someone to be held responsible, and she says no one has even been brought in for questioning. Nikeya Smith says her son was innocent, doing well in school and deeply involved in sports when he was killed, and she wants to know why he was targeted.
Kemp, a senior at Ecorse High School, was shot and killed on Sept. 19, 2023, according to WXYZ Channel 7. The station reports that a vehicle pulled up alongside the car Kemp and a friend were riding in near Fort Street and Outer Drive after 11 p.m., and that vehicle opened fire, according to Detroit police. Kemp's friend survived the shooting, and a bystander was also struck, WXYZ reports.
MLive reported at the time that Kemp was shot multiple times at the corner of Outer Drive and Fort in Southwest Detroit and died later at the hospital. That outlet also reported that the shooter remained at large following the shooting, and that a 43-year-old bystander struck in the gunfire was reportedly in critical condition.
A Three-Sport Standout With College Offers on the Table
Kemp was a football, basketball and baseball standout at the small Downriver school, per the same account from MLive. He was a starting member of the Ecorse basketball team that reached the Division 3 state finals in 2022 and the state semifinals in 2023, and during the season MLive described, he averaged 15 points, four rebounds, two assists and five steals per game.
His baseball future looked especially bright. MLive reported he had drawn more than 15 Division I offers as the face of Ecorse's baseball program, while WXYZ reported, according to the district, that he had received 15 NCAA Division I offers. Either way, Kemp was headed toward a college athletic career before the shooting cut it short.
The community gathered to remember him at a memorial service on Sept. 22, 2023, at the Ecorse High School football stadium, according to the Detroit News, which identified Nikeya Smith as his mother in coverage of the gathering.
A Mother Says She's Still Waiting for a Call Back
Three years later, the case remains unsolved and no person has been held responsible for Kemp's murder, the station's report states. Smith says no one has even been taken in for questioning, despite her own efforts to move the case forward.
Smith told the station she forwarded information about suspected people to detectives herself, but never received a promised call back from investigators. She says she still wants to know why her son was targeted that night.
Detroit police have told the station they will reach out to Smith and offer her resources, and that community cooperation is needed to solve the case. Smith says she believes police action could still lead to justice for her son.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
