DETROIT (WXYZ) — As the sunset in Grand Blanc on Monday, family and friends gathered over candlelight to honor the life of 18-year-old Jacob Hills.
Hills' body was found by Detroit Police early Monday morning in the basement of a vacant apartment on West Warren Street in Detroit. Police say he had multiple gunshot wounds.
"He would do anything and everything for anybody at anytime, it did not matter,” said Jacob's mother Sadie Hills.
Sadie was surrounded by family as she described the agonizing details of Jacob’s death. They had been searching for roughly 24 hours since he didn’t return home.
“It was hard to hear who these kids were that my son was hanging out with and what they were capable of," Hills said. "They’re not kids, they are monsters.”
Jacob went to Detroit with a friend for a party on Saturday. When he didn’t come home, his family tracked his phone to Dearborn Heights, where it was found abandoned with his car. His body was later discovered after police say his family received an anonymous tip.
“They found my son in a pool of blood," Hills said. "They stole his shoes off of his feet.”
Jacob had just graduated from Grand Blanc High School in 2022 and recently enlisted in the National Guard. His family says he had just bought a gun on Friday, an AR, from a local gun shop near Grand Blanc. They believe he was lured an hour south to Detroit by the suspects in order to steal his gun.
"He had purchased a gun on Friday near our home for practice shooting because he was leaving for the National Guard on August 10th," Hills said. “He had that gun in his car when he went down there on Saturday and he was lured down there because of the gun and his graduation money.”
Jacob's family says some money was stolen from Jacob, along with the gun and his shoes.
Police are still investigating the case, interviewing those who saw Jacob last. If you know anything, you can contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
