DETROIT (WXYZ) — Alisa Sanders was close to giving up hope that her son’s killer would ever be caught after nearly three years went by since he was shot on Detroit’s west side.

But when she got a call from the Detroit Police Department saying that a man had been taken into custody, her hope changed.

“Hopeful, prayerful — that’s how I feel,” Sanders said.

Sanders is talking about the space she has been in since the moment she found out someone had been charged in her youngest son’s murder.

“When it happened, I didn’t know what to do, where to go,” the mother of four said.

Her son Derrell Rockette, 32, was gunned down in December of 2022. He was a father of two with another baby on the way.

“He didn’t even know that he was having another baby,” Sanders said.

Sanders told me the feeling of not knowing if she’d ever see an arrest remained a constant for her until Friday when she looked the man in the face who police say killed her son.

Detroit police took Darnell Jerome Franklin Jr.,19, into custody a week ago.

Wayne County prosecutors say Franklin shot and killed Rockette in cold blood. Franklin is now facing multiple charges including first-degree murder.

Sanders says she didn’t know if this day would ever come because there wasn’t much communication with Detroit police in the beginning.

So she along with other mothers who lost a child to gun violence formed the group known as Mothers Keeping Boots on the Ground to make sure their children’s homicide cases weren’t forgotten.

“We banned to stick together and fight,” Sanders said. “And fight for other families, so we can get justice.”

Chief Todd Bettison said Sanders helped with the case.

“She never gave up,” Bettison said. “She relentlessly continued to contact the Detroit Police Department. And she’s advocated for other mothers as well.”

“And so, she was an advocate just involved out there looking for her own tips.”

Bettison also says that the department remains committed to every victims’ case regardless of when it happened.

“We are not going to stop working these cases,” the chief said. “And so our cold case unit, I’ve actually added additional officers. We just don’t close out homicide cases.”

Sanders said she’s grateful for the work put into her sons case and she leaves this advice for other mothers still looking for justice.

“Don’t ever, ever give up,” Sanders said. “You fight for your child… Fight. Be the voice for your child.”

A judge continued the $500,000 bond for a 23-year-old man accused of beating his father to death last weekend at their east Detroit home, court records said.

Le Mar Manassa Jr. was charged Tuesday in 36th District Court with manslaughter, according to records and Detroit police.

A bond re-determination hearing was held Thursday.

The defendant is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday for a probable cause conference.

If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Court records said Manassa is represented by the Neighborhood Defender Service in Detroit. The judge appointed an attorney to represent the defendant during the bond re-determination hearing, according to the records.

On Friday, Percilla Poole, Manassa’s mother, told The Detroit News she doesn’t know who her son’s lawyer is at the moment. Poole said she is looking to get an attorney for him and has not been able to speak to her son since he was arrested.

She also said her son is autistic and the incident in which he is accused is shocking.

“It’s unbelievable,” Poole, 53, said in a telephone interview. “It’s hard to go through. I can’t sleep at night, and I can barely eat. This whole thing is very hard on my family and me. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

On Tuesday, Detroit police said officers were dispatched at about 7:24 p.m. Saturday to a home in the 5700 block of University Place near Chandler Park Drive and Cadiuex Road.

They entered the home and found Le Mar Manassa Sr., 53, wounded in the kitchen, authorities said.

Medics arrived and pronounced him dead.

According to a preliminary investigation, Manassa and his son had an argument that escalated to a fight. Detectives said the younger man punched his father multiple times in the head.

Poole said she wasn’t at home when the incident happened and nothing like this has ever unfolded with her son before.

“He’s not a violent person,” she said. “He’s very quiet, and he keeps to himself. He’s never showed any signs that something like this could happen.”

She said her son loves football and doesn’t talk much.

“He’s 23 years old, but he has the mindset of a 9-year-old,” she said. “He still plays with action figures.”

Poole told police officers her son was autistic the night he was arrested. She said Friday that her son, who was born prematurely, had been in special education programs since pre-school.

“He’s been like this since he was born,” Poole said.

cramirez@detroitnews.com

@CharlesERamirez