The Brief Demetrius Griffin Jr. was found burning inside a garbage can in an Austin alley in 2016. The Cook County Medical Examiner determined he was alive when the fire started. No one has been arrested, and his family continues to seek answers.



Ten years after a 15-year-old Chicago boy was found burning inside a garbage can in a West Side alley, his family is still searching for answers. No one has been arrested, and his aunt says she hasn't heard from detectives in years.

 Who would burn somebody alive? What could you possibly do to somebody that they would burn you alive?  asked Rochelle Sykes, the victim's aunt.

On Sept. 16, 2016, firefighters discovered Demetrius Griffin Jr. burning inside a garbage can in an alley near the 5500 block of West Cortez Street in Chicago's Austin neighborhood.

He was just a block and a half from home.

Demetrius Griffin Jr. | Provided (FOX 32 Chicago)

The Cook County Medical Examiner determined Demetrius was still alive when the fire started.

 I can't sleep at night knowing that he went through this kind of torture and I couldn't help him,  Sykes said.  That was my only nephew. That was my baby. 

A walk home and unanswered questions

According to Sykes, Demetrius had walked a young girl toward her home the evening he disappeared.

The girl reportedly told the family that Demetrius walked her halfway home before heading back toward his own house.

But Sykes questions that account.

 I have no idea what happened, but I don't buy that story,  she said, adding that she hasn't seen the girl since.

What happened to Demetrius after that remains a mystery.

Remembering the boy behind the headlines

Before his death became an unsolved murder case, Demetrius was a high school freshman with hazel-brown eyes, a big personality and a love for animals.

His aunt remembers a generous young boy who would ask her for two dollars: one for himself and another to buy something for a dog.

 He would ask me, 'TT, give me two dollars.' He would get a dollar for him and a dollar to get the dog something. He loved dogs,  Sykes recalled.

It's those small moments she h
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