'Why my child?' Mother of 1-year-old boy who investigators say was killed shares her grief



Alonzo Lamar Jr.



MILWAUKEE -- A vigil was held on Friday evening, Jan. 3 for a 1-year-old boy investigators say was killed on New Year's Day. Family members shared more about what they say happened that day.

"I just want to be with my baby," said Andreana Martin, the baby's mother. "Why my child? Why my 1-year-old? Why everything I have? He was everything I had left."

Martin said she left her 1-year-old son Alonzo Lamar Jr. in the care of her boyfriend on New Year's Day while she went to work. She never imagined she would get a call from the man saying something was wrong. Martin said she rushed home to find him lifeless and covered in bruises.

Andreana Martin



Vigil for Alonzo Lamar Jr.



"I tried CPR. I tried everything," Martin said. "I knew from the way the bruises looked on his face. I knew from all that nothing made sense."

Family and friends gathered to remember the boy they called A.J. and to comfort the child's mother and father -- also in attendance.

"There's no reason I should be burying my 1-year-old. There's no reason. There's nothing he could have done to you to make you do this to him," Martin said. "I feel like my heart has been ripped out my chest and I will never be the same -- ever again."



Milwaukee police say they will not be sharing any additional details about this case at this time. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office said the death is being investigated as the city's first homicide of 2020.

Milwaukee police investigate death of 1-year-old child near 25th and Atkinson



A GoFundMe account was set up for Alonzo Lamar Jr. CLICK HERE to learn more.