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Vigil Held For Boy Killed By Stray Bullet

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Friends and neighbors would rather be celebrating the new year with Terrell Mayes Jr., than remembering the life of the 3-year-old who died after being hit in the head by a stray bullet.

Family friends and community leaders came together Saturday afternoon to remember Mayes and support his mother, Marsha, and his siblings.

Candles burned in honor of the child's life – one taken in an act of seemingly surreal violence.

Police believe the bullet that hit Mayes on Monday night came from outside his house. His family says he and his brother were trying to hide in a closet when the bullet hit Mayes in the head. So far no arrests have been made.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak attended the Meyes vigil and said that nothing could break the boy's community.

"Tornadoes, hideous acts like this will not stop the North side from being what it is," Rybak said.

Rybak asked people at the vigil to introduce themselves to someone they didn't know. He and others also pleaded for the violence to stop.

Minneapolis city council member Don Sammuels called the violence "symptom of the community's illness."

"If we do not act it will happen again," he said. "It will happen over and over again."

Community members donated money to Meyes' family, and those who attended the vigil believe the new year is a chance to curb the violence that has plagued the community.

Those at the vigil also asked that those responsible for Meyes' death come forward.

Crimestoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.


Help Mayes Family

Donations to Terrell's family can be given at any M&I Bank. They are to be made out in care of: MAD DADS for the benefit of Terrell Mayes Jr.

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