GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio — It's been a week since the lives of José Ervin Jr.'s family changed forever. Never in a million years did they think they would be answering the door for Garfield Heights police, telling them their loved one had been shot and killed.
"Him being gone, the way he left here, it's been real hard," Ervin's older sister Di'Osha Cummings said.
Ervin was his parents' only son, and the only brother for his two sisters. They all describe him as thoughtful and caring, always putting himself before others.
"He was everything to me," his mother, Rhonda Wylie-Ervin, told 3News through tears. "When I would go to work, he would walk me to the bus stop and he would tell me, 'Mommy, I love you so much.'"
Ervin was shot and killed near a Dunkin' Donuts in Garfield Heights. While police haven't released any details about the suspect, his family believes this all happened because Ervin asked two women he knew for a cigarette before a man with the women shot him.
The family now wants everyone involved to turn themselves into the police.
"We want justice," Cummings stated. "We want the guy to turn himself in."
Most people know Ervin for this picture, showing him with his wife and newborn twins. The photo went viral since they all shared the same birthday, Aug. 18.
It's now a day they will never celebrate with him again. Additionally, his wife Scierra is pregnant with their unborn child.
"It's been hell, it has, because it's like my worst nightmare come to reality," Scierra Ervin said. "This is my biggest fear, and I'm forced to live in it."
The family has set up a GoFundMe to help Scierra and the kids. 3News reached out to Garfield Heights police for an update on their investigation, but has not heard back.
In the meantime, Ervin's family plans to hold a candlelight vigil in his honor this coming Thursday with the are nonprofit Guns Down Hopes Up.