BUFFALO, N.Y. — When you think about turning 16, the focus is on the future — prom, getting your license and major life milestones.
But Monday on what would’ve been Jaylen Griffin’s 16th birthday, the focus is on who he was. His family held a memorial for him at the Central Terminal.
“The reality for Jalen at 16 is that, you know, he's no longer with us,” said Christian Cincannon with Bury the Violence. “He was only 12. He didn't even get that transition to turn into his teenage years.”
It was nearly four years ago that Jaylen told his mom he was just going up the street to the store, only to never return.
After years of praying, hoping and searching, authorities announced last week that his body had been found in the attic of this house on Sheffield Ave in South Buffalo.
Authorities still don’t know how his body got there, how he died or how long it had been there, but they have ruled his death a homicide.
“I just want that person to be caught in case he's doing this to other kids,” Jaylen’s aunt Angela Anderson said.
But rather than focusing on the questions that still remain, the family chose to honor that 12-year-old kid that loved playing football with his friends and spending his weekends at the Broadway Market, helping the elderly carry their groceries to their cars.
“The Good Book says you're not supposed to mourn the dead. You’re supposed to celebrate them,” Anderson said.
So when the community thinks of Jaylen Griffin’s 16th birthday, they’ll remember it as a celebration.
“Happy birthday Jaylen, and I'll see you again when we meet,” his grandmother Shirley Banks said.
“I'm just mad because you're not here to celebrate. But you're here in spirit,” his grandfather Dallas Ponzo added.