‘I buried my only child’: Wrens mom hopes reward yields clues
WRENS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Back in August, an investigation opened in Jefferson County following the death of 19-year-old Khia Shields.
After offering an initial $5,000 reward on Aug. 28 for information leading to an arrest, the Sheriff’s Office has increased the reward.
Khia’s family met with the mayor, the GBI, the Sheriff and Chief of Police and increased the reward to $13,000.
They decided to do more to try and get people to come forward with any information related to this case.
“She was just my angel, she was my child. And I’m just trying to keep her name alive and just get some answers,” said Shareka Pitts, Khia’s mom.
Nearly five months later, it’s the unknown that is hurting Khia’s family the most.
“Never in a million years would I think I would be going through this right here. I buried my only child. She was a sophomore at Georgia Southern and she wanted to be an educator. And this is the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with. The loss of a child is very hard,” she said.
Her family needs peace and justice.
“We just need the community to step up and give us some information. And we just want to ensure the community that their name will never been mentioned. No money can match what this family is, and you know, the loved one, and we’re gonna do our very best, we gonna find out who it is,” said Gary Hutchins, Sheriff of Jefferson County.
They say to move forward in this case, people need to come forward.
“Put the guns down. We’re not going to tolerate it anymore. I talked to the chief, we are going to step up the game in the community. Put the guns down, right away,” said David Hannah, mayor of Wrens.
Working together to make the community better while trying to make things right.
“It should show everyone who’s even thinking of committing a crime, that we’re not going to stop until we get you and we’re going to work together to do so. This is not necessarily a jurisdictional thing. We’re going to do what we can to work together to to bring them to justice,” said John Maynard, Wrens Chief of Police.
So they are calling on the community again, saying it’s time to step up.
“If it was your child, what would you want? What would you do with if it was your child or family member?” said Pitts.
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