13-05-2025
Grand Rapids to consider designating street in honor of teen who was shot, killed
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The street where 15-year-old Amillier Penn was shot and killed while playing football with some friends could soon bear his name.
Penn's father, Corey Penn, and Seeds of Promise GR have asked the city of Grand Rapids to designate Umatilla Street SE from Madison Avenue to Union Avenue as 'Amillier Penn Way.' The designation would honor the 15-year-old who was shot and killed there on June 2, 2024.
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On Tuesday, the city of Grand Rapids Community Development Committee scheduled a public hearing on the requested commemorative street name designation for June 10, just over a year after Penn was killed. All owners of properties directly abutting that block of Umatilla Street will be notified of the hearing by mail, according to city documents.
Commemorative street name designations do not rename streets, but would put the designation — typically on a blue sign — under the normal green street sign.
'Street designation is certainly a small way to remember such a young life taken, and I hope that it can also serve as a little bit of comfort to the family,' Second Ward Commissioner Milinda Ysasi said during Tuesday's meeting, adding she hopes the designation will encourage people with information on Penn's killing to come forward.
GRPD docuseries names uncharged suspect in death of teen: Could that hurt the case?
No one has been charged in Penn's death, which was the focus of the first episode of 'All Access PD: Grand Rapids.' The docuseries episode included the name of a potential suspect. News 8 is not naming the individual because they have not been charged with a crime at this time.
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