Moniq-e Hackett is seeking justice for her son, 19-year-old Ian Samuel.
Samuel was found shot multiple times, dead on a dark doorstep in the Lake Balboa area of the San Fernando Valley on Oct. 22, 2016. It was near Victory and Woodley. LAPD Valley Homicide Detectives believe he was with a group of people that night, and that one of them fired those fatal shots.
"I want them to know what they took from me," says Samuel’s sister, Mia Drew. "He meant so much to me. I'm not myself without him."
911 callers helped police begin their investigation with the little information they could provide.
"Oh my God!" one caller whispered to the dispatcher. "There was three gunshots and this guy's running down the street right now."
For Hackett, the death of her son hits deep and she says puts her in a very dark place.
"There’s an emptiness for me," she says. "I wanted to kill myself. I really was going to do it, I still think about it. I don't want to be here, this is really hard. But that wouldn’t be fair to my other children."
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LAPD detective Jeffrey Briscoe says he takes this case very personally. Since the night it happened, he's been knocking on doors and reaching out to witnesses to piece it all together.
"It was a very violent death," he says. "The victim ultimately landed at the base of this stoop here in a pool of blood."
The circumstances surrounding the murder are not yet clear. Did Ian know his killer? Was he part of the group of people seen running from the crime scene? Or was it something else entirely different?
For his family, they want the killer caught.
"I want them to pay for what they did to my brother," Drew says. "I want them honestly to suffer to see how my brother suffered the night he was taken."
More than five months later and the events of that night replay every night for Samuel's family. For his mom, she says she feels guilty for not having protected him.
"I feel like I failed my son," Hackett says. "I feel like it’s my fault."
Valley detectives, though, point the blame solely on the shooter and hope someone will call in and help them make an arrest – while helping Samuel’s family finally feel closure.
Anyone with information is asked to contact LAPD Valley Homicide Detectives at 818-374-1948. Callers can remain anonymous.
