LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Every night Nicole Lemmons gets off work, she is reminded of the son who can no longer call her.
"I'd get off work, he'd call me...it's hard not having those phone calls anymore," Lemmons said. "I miss him so much and I don't have answers."
Her son, Thomas Ashley, was murdered while riding his bike back from a friend's house Nov. 30, 2010.
"It hurts knowing that someone had taken him from me," Lemmons said. "He was such a good person."
It was not until the next morning that Lemmons learned her 18-year-old had been shot and killed. He was found lying in an alley just feet away from his father's home.
"You think you're going to go before your kids," Lemmons said. "You never expect to bury your child over a senseless crime."
Lemmons said she received a call that her son had been shot in the back multiple times. She said that while she doesn't know how it happened, she holds onto hope that his death was instant.
"I have to be thankful he didn't suffer, but that's not what I want to be thankful for," Lemmons said. "I'd rather be thankful for having him beside me."
His friend said Ashley was on the phone arguing with someone when he left the house. Lemmons said she believes she knows who was behind the murder, but nothing ever happened.
Louisville Metro Detective Kyle Willet, the same detective who was busted for stealing almost $80,000 from UPS packages in 2016, was originally assigned to her son's case in 2010.
"It makes me wonder," Lemmons said, "how well did you work my son's case?"
Almost ten years later, the cold case unit controls the investigation, but Lemmons said she still has not heard much from police. She said lack of evidence has caused the case to go stale.
"It's been almost ten years," Lemmons said. "I'm not going to live forever, will I ever have an answer?"
For now, Lemmons can only imagine what her life would like if her son was still alive.
"I can only imagine what he'd be doing right now at 28 years old, I may be a grandma," Lemmons said. "Who knows?"
While she said she has forgiven her son's killer, Lemmons said she and her family still want to see that person convicted for their crime.
"They should be punished, because I've been punished for ten years now, and I will continue to be punished, because losing a child...you don't get over," Lemmons said.
She said she hopes that new witnesses can step forward with more information that might bring peace to a family in mourning.
"I would sleep knowing that Thomas finally has justice," Lemmons said. "I would feel so much safer knowing that they're not out there harming another family."
If you have any information, call Crime Stoppers at 582-CLUE.
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