Aurora Man Murdered In December; Family Worries Critical Photos Released Too Late
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - There are more than a dozen surveillance cameras inside the Peachwood Liquor store. Each one of those was rolling the night a masked man walked in and shot Hailemichael Hailemariam.
"His daughter that we are so worried she can't survive, she loved him so much and didn't get enough time," Kahsay Abraham said.
Hailemichael was Abraham's cousin, who he says was more like a brother to him growing up in Ethiopia together.
"We grew up in the same village, went to high school together, Catholic school and boarding school," he said.
Hailemichael owned the store for the last eight years. On Dec. 26, he tried to stop the suspect from leaving the store without paying for two bottles of liquor.
"And then he pulled out the gun, shoot him only one gun right in the chest and gone," Abraham said.
He has had concerns about the investigation by Aurora police starting with the initial response. While the department did issue information about the death the day after the shooting, it included few details about what happened and didn't include images of the suspect or a description of the vehicle used.
"They told us directly the public is not in danger, they said he did not come here to kill," Abraham said.
Aurora police says decisions about releasing surveillance video are made case by case, and often done after all other leads are exhausted.
Abraham, who has been emailing the detective in the case, says he knows other work is being done.
"I know it takes time, sometimes there are things we don't know," he said.
He says it was only after a meeting with the family that a tweet went out and still, he worries that critical information has been held back for too long.
"He's a killer. He's on the street he's somewhere," Abraham said.
Aurora police didn't want to comment on camera about this case because they say it is still ongoing and active.
Anyone who witnessed this shooting or has information about this homicide is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720.913.7867. By using Crime Stoppers, tipsters can remain anonymous and are eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.
