EAST POINT, Ga. — Four days after Ty'Rell Sims was killed in a drive-by shooting, candles and balloons mark the place on Bell Street in East Point where he died.
"It was so fast - I didn't expect to do this, I didn't, I didn't expect to bury my baby, period," Ty'Rell's mom, Cathy Smith, told 11Alive on Tuesday.
Smith says she wants answers and justice for her 11-year-old son.
"I need everything I can get to make sure my baby can be in peace," Smith said.
East Point Police Department Cpt. Allyn Glover said they got a call around 11 p.m. on Friday that a child had been shot.
"Didn't need to happen, it shouldn't have happened," Glover said.
She says Ty'Rell and a friend were walking from one side of Bell street to the other when a black, late-model sedan pulled up slowly and someone inside opened fire.
"This appears to be a beef that may have been going on the same day," Glover said. "We've got some people we're trying to talk to - we're not releasing that yet, but as soon as we get to talk to them, hopefully that will give us more answers."
Glover says the weapon used appears to be a small caliber handgun, but they are waiting on a ballistics report to confirm.
Ty'Rell's family says they will always remember him as an athlete and a student whose life was lost too soon.
"Man, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Could've been anybody. I hate that it was him," Ty'Rell's uncle, Kevin Bryant said.
Anyone with information related to this crime is asked to contact East Point Police at 404-761-2177.
A GoFundMe account was set up by Tyrell's mother to help with funeral expenses.
"To the world, Ty is another tragedy. But to us he is our baby and we are demanding justice," the GoFundMe page says. "Ty was a kid that put others before him. Ty loved the simple things in life and now his life has been taken."