INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - The mother of one of the first people killed in Indianapolis in 2019 is sending a message to her son's killer.
The case involves two men in their late 20s found dead inside a home on Sharon Avenue near 12th Street. The double homicide has left both families devastated and there are balloons at the house in their honor. They hope someone can help police find the killer.
Lachelle Norton talked with Eyewitness News about her son's murder, often pushing back tears.
"I wish I can just hold him one more time," said Lachelle Norton.
Norton shared her favorite photograph of her 27-year-old son Christopher Johnson. He's wearing a shirt and tie in the photo and posted it on social media.
A relative found him and 28-year-old Kenneth Valentine dead inside his northwest side home shortly after 5 p.m. on January 5, 2019. The concerned mother sent the relative to the house after he failed to return her phone calls that day. They usually talked on the phone everyday even if just to say hello to each other. The grieving mother believes his killer may have taken advantage of her son's kindness.
"He would help anybody. If you would ask him, he would give it. If you need to go somewhere, he would take you. He would give you a place to stay. He would feed you," Norton said.
After not hearing from her son all day Saturday, Lachelle sent a family member to Christopher's house to check on him. That's when the relative discovered the body of Christopher's friend and officers eventually located LaChelle's son also murdered.
Mother's intuition told LaChelle from the very beginning something was wrong. She and son had a special bond since he was a baby, which even led to a nickname.
"I called him 'Shook Nook.' He hated it, too. He said, 'Momma, I am a grown man. Don't call me 'Shook Nook.' But when he was a baby, he had dimples," said Norton.
Now as family and friends try to raise money for his funeral, his mother just wants justice.
"They took a good person," Norton said.
Norton is still trying to wrap her mind around losing her son. She says now each New Year, instead of grieving his death, they will celebrate his life.
Norton shared the last conversation she had with her son.
"I said, 'Chris, Where are you?' He said, 'I am going out west.' I said, 'I told you not to go out there, where are you going?' He was like, 'Mom, I am going to be OK'," she said.
But Christopher was not OK. When officers did the initial check after the 911 call from their relative, they found Kenneth Valentine in the living room. Further investigation revealed her son's body in the kitchen area of the house.
LaChelle Norton believes her son knew his killer.
She told Eyewitness News, "He was deceived apparently because he is not here with us today and it hurt us badly because we know Chris."
People who knew Chris have left memorials outside his Sharon Avenue home. There are almost two dozen balloons, there are a number of stuffed animals and the candles left at the house are still burning. Someone even used miniature candles to spell out his name 'CHRIS' on the ground.
Although there is a GoFundMe account to help his family with burial expenses, the family stresses nothing would help more than his killer being brought to justice.
"Just do the right thing because you know Chris was not a bad person, he was not a bad person," Norton said.
If you have any information that could help in this case, call Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS. If your tip leads to an arrest, you will receive a reward of $1,000 cash. All calls to the tip line are 100% confidential.