DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – A mother is on a mission to find justice for her son as the man once charged with his murder is about to be sentenced on a reduced charge.

Ernest Wren, 30, was shot just blocks from his mother’s home on North Van Dyke Street in October of 2019.

“I can’t believe he is gone,” Wren’s mother, Mary Woods, said. “I can’t believe it.”

For Woods, memories are all that are left of her son. She treasures those memories.

"He'd come into the house and say 'Mom what you cook, what you cook?' that is all he'd say,” she said.

The man accused of shooting and killing Wren, Deonta Merriweather, was arrested within minutes of Wren’s death. In an October release to the media, police said Merriweather was arrested and booked for first-degree murder. Court records no longer show the murder charges, instead, Merriweather is scheduled to be sentenced for unlawful use of a weapon next week.

"This boy murdered my son and there ain't no murder charges against nobody,” Woods said.

It is unclear why Merriweather is no longer facing first-degree murder charges. According to sworn statements, Merriweather admitted to shooting at Wren, but said it was in self-defense after Wren was able to get a gun during a fight.

"All I do is think about my son,” Woods said. “I'm waiting for him to walk through the door and see him again, but I don't never see him. A man is still dead. He can't speak for himself." 

Woods is using her pain to find courage to give her youngest son a voice. Woods hopes to bring justice to the father of five, in hopes of putting the person responsible behind bars and keeping other families from feeling her pain.                           

"He gonna get out of jail, he gonna think he is bad and he gonna kill someone else's kid, because he got under his belt that he killed my son,” Woods said.

Woods memories serve as a drive to push forward and raise awareness of a justice system she calls flawed.

"I ain't got nothing but pictures now. I can't do nothing but look at them. He dead. He gone. He ain't coming back. I can't sleep at night. This don't make no sense. I am not going to lay here and do nothing about it. They need to do something about it."

WAND-TV reached out to Merriweather’s attorney for comment and was told the public defender’s office does not discuss cases with the media. The Macon County State’s Attorney has not responded to our questions about why the charges were changed.

Decatur police told WAND-TV they have no comment about the case. However, after WAND filed a public records request asking for information in the case, the department issued a denial saying in part, the releasing of the information could hinder the investigation or the suspect’s right to a fair trial.

WAND-TV has requested the State Attorney General review that denial.