LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Michael Thomas Sr. lost both his son and grandson in the span of 19 months.
"Really they were like brothers. He was like a big brother," Thomas Sr. said.
Michael Thomas Jr. was an up and comer in the world of music.
"He produced it and he did the beats on it," Thomas Sr. said.
Thomas Jr.'s songs had even been played on the radio. But on July 5, 2015, the soundtrack stopped. Michael's songs, silenced after violence stole the voice away.
"We watch Channel 11. News came on and said homicide, Bluegrass Avenue. I said, 'aw, another death.' Few minutes later our phone rung," Thomas Sr. said.
Michael's sister called their father to inform him of what happened to Michael. Thomas Sr. rushed to the scene.
"When I, when I first went up there and saw him laying down, I seen it from a distance. I knew it was him. His bald head, had a beard, and he was stretched out on the ground. I knew it was him," Thomas Sr. said.
Michael was shot several times, including a shot to the head. Injuries so severe, his father wouldn't see him again until the funeral home.
Thomas Sr. says his son was at a friend's house the night of his murder that friend said Michael answered a phone call.
"He said he'd step outside. And when he stepped outside, he said he heard fireworks," said Thomas Sr. "Why would someone target him? I don't know, that's a question I always ask myself."
Bluegrass Ave. will always be a reminder of the pain brought to Thomas Sr.'s family and sadly enough, the Watterson Expressway would serve as a place, where that same kind of sorrow would resurface.
"Two years later," said Thomas Sr. "Someone called my daughter and said Nicholas had been shot."
Michael's nephew Nicholas was targeted on I-264 in a car as he tried to get on the expressway in February 2017.
"He told me it was multiple gunshots. And I asked him, again, he's still in the car? And he said, 'yes. No ambulances or anything.'' Thomas Sr. said.
Thomas Sr. is still grieving and looking for answers over these two losses years later.
"You never think you would have to go through it one time, but then twice? And you wonder, when is this stuff going to stop?" Thomas Sr. said.
He recalls the last conversation and the last he saw each of his loved ones.
"Before Michael passed, the last time I saw him, I told him I loved him. He told me, I love you, too, Daddy. And Nicholas, when I talked to him on the phone and told him come help me move, he said I love you Papa. So before anything happened, I shared that we loved one another. It keeps me going," Thomas Sr. said.
No one has been arrested in his son's or grandson's case.
"If they get away with this, who's to say they won't do this again," Thomas Sr. said.
He's hoping that people in the community with information will talk before it's too late.
"Don't wait until it hits your family. Do it now," Thomas Sr. said.
Who was calling Michael Thomas the night of July 5, 2015? Is it a clue that could lead to an arrest?
What about two years later? When his nephew Nicholas Thomas was gunned down on the I-264 in February 2017.
If you have any information, Call Crime Stoppers at 582-CLUE
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