Friend of murdered Akron teen Willie Brewer pleads for help

AKRON, Ohio - Family, friends and police officers are urging anyone with information on the murder of 17-year-old Willie Brewer to come forward and lead authorities to the teen's killer.

On Monday, Billy-Jean Hawkins, a friend of Brewer's since preschool, said she misses Brewer.

"It's sad that he had to die so young. He's only a couple months older than me, so it's really crazy that he's already gone. I don't want to believe it," Hawkins said.

Brewer, who played for the Akron Buchtel football team last fall, was killed in a hail of gunfire Friday afternoon outside of  Mr. Pantry on Copley Road. The Summit County Medical Examiner said Brewer was shot in the torso and hand and died on the way to a hospital.

Detectives said a bystander, Alex Watts, 55, was also shot in the stomach. He was taken to Akron General Medical Center where a spokesman couldn't release his condition on Monday.

Watts was able to call 911 after he was shot and told a dispatcher, "I just got off the bus and a bullet hit me. I just was crossing the street. I was going to the Dollar General and I got shot."

Akron detectives have reviewed surveillance video from a city-owned camera. The video, which has not been released, shows people running from the shooting scene, but the actual shooting was not captured.

Officer said it's possible witnesses are too afraid to come forward. But Hawkins is hoping someone will find the courage to speak up.

"It's not right that he just got killed for nothing. Nobody is saying anything. They should at least say something if the know who did it or why," Hawkins said.

Summit County Crimestoppers and Brewer's family is offering a reward up to $2,500 for information that leads to the gunman.

In May of 2011, Brewer survived a shooting. According to a police report, the teen was shot in the chest at 928 Delia Avenue. Two months prior to that shooting, Brewer filed a police report claiming that two suspects made threats over Facebook to "shoot up" Brewer's birthday party.

Police aren't sure if those incidents are connected to Brewer's murder.

Tips can be made anonymously through Summit County Crimestoppers at (330) 434-COPS.