Memphis family waiting for answers almost a year after 16-year-old’s death
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis family is pleading with the public for help in solving the death of their 16-year-old loved one.
On May 18, 2023, Que’l Bills was killed at the Cane Creek Apartments.
It was the day after his 16th birthday.
“It was hard to stand,” Que’l’s father Quinton Bills said. “To watch my son lying there taking his last breath. He was actually on the machine keeping him alive until we gave them the okay, which we really didn’t want to, but it was like we really didn’t have a choice.”
Also in the hospital room during Quel’s final moments were his paternal grandparents, Stephanie and Donald Meriweather.
“I’m not only grieving for myself,” Stephanie Meriweather said. “I’m grieving for my child because my child lost his child. So, that’s a big pill to swallow.”
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Que’l’s family said he was a typical teenager who loved to have fun, draw and had a strong interest in animals.
He was the oldest of three siblings and very close to his grandparents.
“Even though I was titled as Grandma, I worked in mom’s actions,” Stephanie Meriweather said.
His grandfather remembers an upbeat video chat he had with Que’l just days before his passing.
“Everybody’s on the phone laughing, discussing what we’re going to do for the weekend. He’s telling me what he wants for his birthday,” Donald Meriweather said.
However, those plans never came to fruition.
Que’l Bills Que’l Bills and his father Quinton Bills. Que’l Bills and his father Quinton Bills. Que’l Bills (middle) with his father Quinton Bills (right) and one of his siblings (left).
On the day of the shooting, Que’l had gone to visit his mother, who lives in Cane Creek Apartments, for his birthday.
That’s when Que’l’s grandmother received a blood-curdling call from his mother telling her that he had been shot.
“He told his little brother to duck, and when he tried to duck, the bullet hit him in the neck,” Stephanie Meriweather said.
According to Que’l’s family, as he, his mother and siblings were leaving the apartment, a car sped through the complex with someone inside firing shots.
Memphis Police say the suspect was driving in a black sedan.
Suspect dead after shootout with police had been arrested, released in March, records show
Tragically, when Que’l was taken to the hospital, doctors told them that he had lost too much blood and there was nothing they could do.
“We got back to the room. Got to see Que’l,” Donald Meriweather said. “Hold his hands as he took that last breath.”
Now, nearly a year after his death, Que’l’s family has been holding their breath waiting and looking for answers about what really happened that fateful day.
His grandparents say they don’t believe he was the target and that he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Unfortunately, his family still has yet to receive any updates regarding his case.
They are begging for anyone with information to come forward.
“Someone out there knows something and please I just beg you to just share this information,” Donald Meriweather said.
WREG has reached out to MPD for an update about the case and is still waiting to hear back.
If you have any information that could help police solve this case, you are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH.
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