by
Paige Stalker
It's been four years since Paige Stalker, 16, of Grosse Pointe Farms was murdered while sitting in a car with friends in Detroit, just three blocks from the Grosse Pointe Park border. Police suspect the unsolved shooting was a mistake in identity.
"I used to talk a lot more" to authorities, Paige's mother, Jen, tells Deadline Detroit. "I had to stop calling. As a mother, as a parent, it's hard thinking about this and dealing with it every day."
Stalker says she met with a team from the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office just before Christmas, who she says didn't fill her in on many details of the probe, but assured her it's active.
"I feel grateful it's not a cold case."
While authorities are officially keeping mum, one source tells Deadline Detroit that authorities have identified at least four suspects and that three are behind bars serving lengthy sentences for carjackings.
As theory goes, one gang member shot at a rival group on Dec. 22, 2014. The rival group went home minutes later to fetch weapons and cruised through the east-side neighborhood, seeking revenge. They pulled in front of a parked silver Mercury on Philip Street near Charlevoix Street. Paige Stalker and friends were inside, socializing and smoking marijuana.
The gang members thought the earlier shooter was in the car and opened fire. Paige died. Three other teens were shot and wounded. They've all since recovered.
The Detroit Free Press reported last year that part of the murder weapon — a disassembled AK-47 — was found in Ohio and that gas station surveillance video supports witness accounts.
Investigators are still gathering evidence, the source says.
While frustrated at the pace, Jen Stalker says: "Truthfully I really want them to convict the right people for the crime. I think they're making sure of that as well."
Maria Miller of the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office did not immediately return a call for comment.
