This was not the way Amber Neubert wanted to start her new year.
“I’ve never experienced a loss like this.”
Her boyfriend, 23-year-old Keith Childress was shot to death New Year’s Eve by Las Vegas police.
Childress had been raising Neubert’s son since he was 2 months old and the two had a baby of their own on the way.
“I just feel like he’s another victim of police brutality," she said.
Childress skipped out on a court date in Phoenix, where has scheduled to be sentenced for numerous crimes. U.S. Marshalls tracked him down in Las Vegas and asked police to help capture him.
The situation turned deadly when police say they ordered Childress to put down what they thought was a weapon. Police say Childress refused and instead advanced toward them. They shot him several times and later found out he was holding a cell phone, not a gun.
“I just want him to call,” Neubert said. “I just want him to call and be like, ‘That’s okay mama, I’m here.’”
Dozens of friends and family have changed their Facebook profile pictures to a picture of Childress with the words ‘Justice for Keith Childress’ written over it.
“I think it’s just a mixture between shock and anger,” friend Josh Schultz said.
Schultz said they’re changing their profile pictures to honor a man they knew as a good guy, regardless of his prior run-ins with the law.
“I know we all have things in our past,” he said. “We’ve all ran into some issues, but he definitely was changing for the better.”
Friends and family have set up a GoFundMe account to help with travel and funeral arrangements.
