SAN ANTONIO – The family of a man killed in an early morning drive-by shooting on Sept. 10 wants help finding his killer.
"You can honor Jalil by telling what you know," said Jalil Stewart's mother, Farrah Brooks-Pryor. "He didn't deserve this. He was at home. He was supposed to be safe."
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Crime stoppers is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of the people responsible for the 20-year-old's murder. Stewart, or "J-Stew" as his friends knew him, was killed in the same shooting that injured his step-brother.
At around 3 a.m., loaded with a plate of snacks from his mom, Stewart entered the partially-converted garage in his family's home on the 6600 block of Highland Grass that served as his room.
Within a minute of her son closing the door, Brooks-Pryor heard what she thought were firecrackers going off.
In reality, someone was lighting up the home with more than 30 rounds in what investigators called a drive-by shooting. Most of the bullets went through the garage door, in front of Stewart's room where he, his step-brother and a friend were at the time.
His 21-year-old step brother was hit in the foot, but Jalil was hit more seriously.
"The door flung open and one of his friends were carrying him by one arm," Brooks-Pryor said. "Jalil looked at me and was like 'Mama, I can't walk.'"
As Stewart lay on the floor, his family searched for a wound, not finding one at first.
"I'm holding him, but I don't see any bullets, and I'm like 'you're good.'" his step-father, Windell Pryor remembered. "And he looks up at me like 'I'm good?' I say 'yeah,' and then I pull my hand out from behind his back and there was blood on my hand."
In the entire fusillade of bullets, Stewart's family say he was hit just once, but it was enough. He was rushed to the hospital where he died, and suddenly, the sports-loving, sharp-tongued jokester was gone.
"From what I do know is that he didn't do anything. He didn't do nothing but roast people," Pryor said.
"These cowards took a piece of our heart. You know what I mean? And he's not coming back."
Stewart's family believes the shooter or shooters must have been in their home before.
"Because they knew that the boys were in there, and that's where they slept," his mother said.
The family is sure someone knows something, and wants them to come forward with the information.
"Whoever could do something like that, they'll do it again," Pryor said. "So we got to get them off the street."
If you have information, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP.