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Community, friends remember murdered Frayser teen

By Lori Brown - bio | email | Twitter | Facebook

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - Members of the community came together in Frayser Saturday to remember murdered teen Alex "Tre" Bolar.

The 15-year-old Trezevant High School student was found shot to death in Georgian Hills Park Wednesday night. It took investigators nearly a day to identify the teen because he was never reported missing.

Friends and family members have defended Bolar's mother, saying she has been wrongly criticized for not knowing her son was missing. Initial media reports said the murder victim was a 12-year-old boy.

Bolar's mother cried Saturday as friends and family members placed teddy bears on the spot where her son's body was found.

Community members like Joe Hunter of Gang, Inc. said they want to ensure the tragedy was not in vain. Hunter called on citizens to take back their neighborhood.

"It lies in us, all of us. We control this neighborhood - not a gang, a blood, a crip, a vice lord, a GD - and they know, I tell them that," he said.

"This is my community. I pay taxes in this community. The grass you're standing on, if you're a tax payer, is yours. If it's yours, you've got to take charge of it, you've got to start claiming your ground."

Hunter urged the community around Georgian Hills park to start owning their neighborhood.

"This playground was infested with gang graffiti," he said. "And I know and read graffiti. They were talking to each other right there - this is their new meeting spot. Well, that's over now because we know it's here."

Hunter urged parents to become more involved in their children's lives. He also said someone in the community needs to turn in a killer.

"That no snitching stuff, I don't believe in that because Alex was one of mine. And I do want to know who killed him," Hunter said.

A Memphis Police officer urged people not to criticize police when they have to arrest a teen.

"Ask that child how many times I let him go," the officer said. "Ain't going to tell ya'll that - how many times I let him go, how many times I talked to him."

After the rally, teens like Vrenda Carey, Bolar's girlfriend of two years, said the message was clear.

"For the young people out here, think before ya'll do stuff, do not join a gang," Carey said. "Think before you do anything because it leads to this here."

"All I could say is from rumors. The reason this happened is because he told the truth on some people who did something wrong to his mama," she said.

Memphis police are still searching for a suspect.

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