Tia Joe had birthday visitors in July when her mother and young son visited her grave at Grand Lawn Cemetery in Detroit.

Joe’s grave site has a new headstone where his son Braxton sang happy birthday.

He was a few weeks away from his fourth birthday. His mother would have been 25 if she had survived the bullet that tore through her manufactured home in Oakland Glens three years ago in Novi.

“He was like, ‘This is mom, my mom,'” Joe’s mother, Trina Bennett, said. “He said he wanted to open the top to see mum. Then he put his ear to it and said, ‘I can’t hear it.’ »

Now living in Oak Park, Bennett finds strength in his grandson as his daughter’s homicide remains unsolved.

Braxton wears a splint on his left leg due to his own gunshot wound and resulting nerve damage. The young boy played and strolled past his grandmother as she spoke more about their loss.

“I know I have to be strong for him,” she said, holding fond memories as frustration with the Novi police gets in the way at times.

Tia Joe was working at Walmart and studying to become a certified practical nurse when she and her young son lived with Bennett in Oakland Glens near Novi and 13 Mile roads.

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Wanting to be a good mom, Joe brought home a piece of cake and dressed Braxton in a new outfit to celebrate turning 6 months old.

Shortly after, gunshots woke Bennett in the early morning hours of April 7.

“He was crying,” Bennett said. “I went into the bedroom. I tried to turn on the lights. All the lights were off. The smoke detector went off.

“When they ran out of the house, they knocked over the electricity pole in the yard. They shot him in the house.

Neighbors said they heard screams and cries for help before first responders arrived and pronounced the pregnant woman dead. Her surviving son will spend almost three months receiving hospital care.

Tia Joe’s older brother would suspect the men she had been involved with. Her best friend wouldn’t be able to name anyone who wanted to hurt the woman she had known since middle school.

Three years of investigation and Novi Police detectives still contact the family every few months for an update and to check on Braxton.

“I can share their frustration,” Detective Mike Marchetti said. “As this is an open investigation, there is not much more. I can’t give you specifics just because it’s open and ongoing.

Tia Joe was a sweet quiet friend, my sister

Tabrian Joe misses his little sister. Heck, he even misses their fights and those times when she would spoil his mood.

“She was a sweet person. She was a fighter. I mean…She was everything to us,” he said. “It’s been three years. Considering it was Novi, it should be a process faster. They should have caught the person by now.

Daijah Hayes met Tia Joe when they were middle schoolers at George Washington Carver Academy in Highland Park.

Tia Joe was the new girl.

“She was really, really quiet,” Hayes said. “One day we just started talking. We literally clicked and remained friends. We had a lot in common. We have done many things together. »

Their birthdays were a day apart. The girls grew into women and Hayes said her friend loves being a mother and strives to be the best mother she can be.

Hayes suspects the person who shot Tia Joe knew her and the layout of the manufactured home she shared with her mother and son.

“I never thought it would be unresolved,” Hayes said, noting that she saw her friend about a week before the shooting. “She was fine. She was normal. She was optimistic. She was happy.

“She was so dynamic. She was caring. She loved. If she could help you, she would help you. She was a darling.

Bennett said her daughter is doing her best to be a great mom. The Detroit high school graduate had previously worked in the dining hall of a Brookdale nursing home and completed CNA classes to return to such an environment.

Big and small things could make her smile.

Before she died, Tia Joe told her mother she wanted Braxton’s first birthday party to have a safari theme. Bennett had wanted a LEGO theme, but she honored her daughter’s wishes with a birthday “safari” and “a ton of people” in Brookdale.

Braxton turns 4 in September and his grandmother wants him to have a good day.

“He is my strength,” she said. “I tell everyone that he is my strength. I know I have to be strong for him.”

Crime Stoppers of Michigan is offering up to $2,500 for information that may help solve Tia Joe’s case. Contact Michigan Crime Stoppers at 1-800-773-2587 or 1-800-SPEAKUP.

According to a flyer, “Tia Lanae Joe and her infant son were found shot dead on Sunday, April 7, 2019 in the town of Novi. They were discovered at 4:10 a.m. in the 29000 block of Rousseau Drive near Carousel Street .

“The owner believed an intruder had entered the residence. Tia Joe had died and her infant son had survived his injuries.”

Contact reporter Susan Vela at [email protected] or 248-303-8432. Follow her on Twitter @susanvela.