KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A family is searching for answers after 29-year-old Terrel Kemp was shot and killed on New Year’s Eve. Kemp’s family is asking anyone with information to come forward so they can get closure.
According to the family, Terrel Kemp’s four-year-old son Terrel Kemp Jr. watched his dad take his last breath.
“He got shot three times and then the ambulance come and then the police,” Terrel Kemp Jr. said.
His aunt Cassie Bush told us, “he was murdered in front of his son and that guy needs to be off of the streets.”
Bush added that this isn’t the first time their family has dealt with gun violence. “We still haven’t gotten justice for JRoc,” she said. “So we want justice for Terrel.”
Bush and the rest of his family said Kemp was all about his kids. His daughters’ mother, Lashonda Cornelius said, “at the end of the day everybody has their downfalls but at the end of the day he was still being a father.”
Cornelius is now having to comfort her daughters after their father’s death.
“When I heard that he didn’t make it I was so sad,” said his daughter Tashyia Cornelius through tears. “The last time that I talked to him was the day he died.”
Tashyia Cornelius and her sister Taelyn Cornelius are just trying to make sense of it all. “I love him and he was the best dad ever,” Taelyn said.
“Everything he’d done, he’d done for his children. He was a working man, he was a good son, a good brother, good uncle,” said Bush.
Kemp would have turned 30 years old this month. “He was full of life and he had a lot of life left to live,” Bush adds, “I told him I loved him though. I just didn’t know that was going to be my last time.”
Their hope is that his kids never forget their dad and that they cherish the memories they had with him.
KPD says the shooting remains under investigation. No suspects are in custody at this time. If you have any information that can help in this investigation, you can call KPD at 865-215-7000.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with the correct spelling of the victim’s name.
