About 75 friends and family gathered Thursday night to honor Dalvin Hollins.
They stood outside the senior home where police say Hollins ran, hid and later died after being shot by an officer following a report of an armed robbery at a Walgreens.
Holding candles and signs, the crowd chanted calls for justice and demands for police to produce the gun Hollins is accused of possessing.
Friends say Hollins was a sweet, joyful young man who never hurt anyone and was never known to have a weapon or act violently.
"Where is the gun? Whatever you say he did, the penalty if went to law, if he went to a court of law, the penalty is not death," said one friend who attended the gathering.
Hollins’ mother said if her son did commit a crime, his punishment doesn’t fit.
"Was it worth shooting my son, to kill him? He's gone, I'm not gonna see him no more, my son is dead. He's not coming back home and I have to deal with that pain," said Sarah Coleman.
"I don't know what he was thinking, but I want to say rest in peace. I love him, he was a good dude," said Devin Franklin, Hollins’ younger brother.
Tempe police searched Marcos de Niza High School Thursday looking to see if he ditched a weapon during the pursuit.
Investigators believe Hollins ran through campus after the alleged robbery. Tempe police say no weapon was found on campus.
The police department does expect to release the 911 call for the robbery and surveillance video from inside the store in the near future.
