LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Those in the Shawnee neighborhood are mourning the death of 19-year-old Neel Nai.
He died on the way to the hospital according to authorities.
Two days later the family-owned B&S Food Mart sits idle, empty.
A shop employee, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons, gave WHAS11 an update on Nai's family on Friday.
"The family? Not good. I want to say as good as expected, but his father didn't know the price of his store was gonna cost him his son, so not good," she said.
One of Nai's friends also asked to not be named for safety reasons but described the 19-year-old as the "most genuine person" he's ever known.
"He's a really good person. He never disliked [anybody]," he said. "He was a caring person, a respectful person."
That community is now mourning his loss.
"I never thought he was about to get robbed or get killed. I never thought that he would get shot," his friend said.
Another one of Nai's friends, Kiana Kenemore, will never see her best friend again -- a life gone too soon, too many words left unsaid.
"In the Black community, it's sad, because we don't have a lot of those places where you know, you can just go and talk. He was one of them," she said. "I called him, my best friend. I'd come in here, 'Hey, best friend,' you know, like he was, he was so funny."
Even with tragedy Nai's friends are adamant his beaming smile won't fade.
"He helped everybody. He helped pay bills, he helped feed peoples' kids, he helped the community as a whole," the shop employee said.
Their message? "Put the guns down."
Anyone with information is asked to call LMPD's anonymous Crime Tip Hotline at 502-574-LMPD (5673) or use the Crime Tip Portal online.
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