Mother opens up for the first time about her son’s unsolved murder
Sunday marks three weeks since a former Desert Hot Springs football player was shot and killed. On Sunday, for the first time, the young man’s mother is opened up about her son’s unsolved murder.
“July 2 is when it happened, and I mean, I thought by now they would have whoever did it,” said Melissa Bates, 19-year-old, Solomon Patrick’s mother.
Bates laid her son to rest Wednesday.
“It’s not like it was something we were prepared for, or we had money put aside for. A parent should never have to bury their child, ever. I still keep thinking in my mind, I mean I know, I saw them bury him, because we stayed there until the grass was over him. But in my heart, I just keep hoping that one day he’s going to walk in the door,” Bates said.
Patrick’s family is still left without answers. Patrick was gunned down three weeks ago in front of a home on Tachevah Drive in Cathedral City. He was shot three times in the chest after an alleged argument a little before 3 a.m. Police are still searching for three suspects connected to the case. All suspects are of Hispanic descent, ranging between the ages of 16 and 22.
The suspect is believed to have used a black handgun, striking Patrick three times in the chest. He died at the scene.
“How could you do this? How can you take someone away and not feel any remorse or guilt? I don’t understand how a person can take a life and it’s nothing to them. And I just wish they would feel some type of something, and I know it’s a lot to ask, but turn themselves in,” Bates said.
