Mothers of slain Detroiters won’t let quest for justice die
They urge community to play role by assisting with unsolved cases
The red on their sweatshirts represents the blood of their slain children.
The gray symbolizes loss of life, but eternal spirit, said DeLisa Glaspie. “Our children’s legacies will be everlasting,” she said in front of Detroit Police headquarters on Wednesday.
Her son, Khalil Allen, was shot and killed in July, weeks before heading off to college. His killer, or killers, haven’t been caught.
The black represents the disproportionate number of Black children killed.
“Black, gray, red. That’s mothers keeping boots on the ground,” said Glaspie, who joined two other mothers to form a new organization — Mothers Keeping Boots on the Ground — to highlight their children’s cases and others, and to demand change.
They gathered outside police headquarters Wednesday wearing black cargo pants, lace-up combat boots and their black-redand-gray hoodies — the dates their children were killed written on the back — to call on Detroiters and police to help them find justice.
“We need the community. Moms can’t do this by ourselves,” Glaspie said. “Let’s go.
“We’re going to keep sending pictures, we going to keep sending messages, we’re going to do everything we can do as mothers to make sure our cases don’t become closed cases, cold cases.”
They pleaded for the community to speak up — the pain in their voices amplified by megaphones.
“We’re looking for justice for our children, all children,” said Alisa Sanders, the mother of Derrell “BaeBae” Rockette, who was killed in December 2022.
“Stop saying this is snitching. Speak up. That’s the only way we’re going to be able to get justice.”
The mothers acknowledged the work police pour into cases. They acknowledged there’s a process.
But more can be done — like better communication and respect from detectives, said Sanders. Faster responses, too, Glaspie added. It took five months for a CrimeStoppers flyer for her son’s case to be made.
But the pressure these mothers have put on the Police Department has already created some changes, they said. They’ve been in conversation with high-ranking officials on policy changes, and a task force will work their children’s cases.
“I believe in that program, and I believe they’re going to get it done,” said Tabitha Nahabedian, the mother of Hayden Davis, a transgender woman who was killed in July 2022.
“I would like them to get it done for not just us mothers, but all the mothers, because it’s mothers before us, it’s mothers coming after us,” she said.
There’s power in numbers, Glaspie, Sanders and Nahabedian agreed.
That’s when someone came down from inside police headquarters to let the mothers know that Detroit Police Chief James White wanted to speak with them.
And as they walked inside, the detective on Davis’ case was waiting for Nahabedian, bearing flowers and an update.
“We’re looking for justice for our children, all children. Stop saying this is snitching. Speak up. That’s the only way we’re going to be able to get justice.”
Chief of police pressed on cold cases
Shortly before the mothers’ demonstration outside of Detroit Police Headquarters, White took questions from the news media about the department’s annual holiday toy drive hosted Wednesday.
Reporters didn’t ask the chief many questions about the toy drive.
Instead, on their minds were the Boots on the Ground mothers, and reporters pressed White on cold cases in the city.
Detroit police currently have a homicide clearance rate of 52% — meaning there’s statistically just above a 50-50 chance an arrest is made for each killing in the city.
Alisa Sanders
Mother of Derrell “BaeBae” Rockette, who was killed in December 2022
maintained open communication with the Meads concerning their child’s mental state, leading the Meads to develop significant trust in the counselor and the school.
In May 2022, toward the end of their child’s seventh grade year, the Meads’ then-13-yearold messaged the school counselor, asking to notify teachers of their switch to he/him pronouns and a masculine name. When the child started eighth grade in the fall, the school employees began calling the child by their preferred name and pronouns — without the Meads’ consent or knowledge.
However, according to the lawsuit, this is in accordance to district policy, which states that Rockford schools can refer to a student by their preferred name and pronouns without notifying their parents if the child is not out to them yet.
In October 2022, Dan Mead met with a district employee to discuss accommodations for the child’s recently diagnosed autism when he received an official report from the school in which one teacher’s response mistakenly used the child’s preferred name instead of their legal name.
In the lawsuit, a neuropsychologist for the district stated that district policy requires employees to use a child’s legal name and pronouns in paperwork while using preferred names and pronouns while interacting with the student. After spotting the mistake, the document was edited to reflect this policy, but the Meads interpreted the change as an extra effort to hide the truth.
The Meads asked the school to stop using their child’s preferred name and pronouns, but the school refused, to remain pursuant to the district policy. Shortly after, the Meads took their child out of the school and began homeschooling them.
On Dec. 18, the Alliance Defending Freedom, an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group, sued the district on the Meads’ behalf in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division.
The lawsuit argues that the district’s actions go against the Meads’ First Amendment rights: as Christians who believe that “biological sex ... is a gift from God, not an arbitrary imposition subject to change,” as stated in the lawsuit, and that the Meads’ right to religious freedom in raising their child was impeded by the school’s policy. Additionally, the lawsuit argues that the Meads’ 14th Amendment rights, which guarantees parents’ rights to make decisions regarding their child’s upbringing, education and health care, were denied by the school district.
The lawsuit asks that Rockford Public Schools’ policy be declared a violation of the First and 14th amendments. It also asks that the district cover any nominal or compensatory damages, such as the costs of homeschooling programs and damages from Dan Mead’s inability to return to work in order to monitor his child’s homeschooling, as well as attorney fees.