PITTSBURGH — It’s been one week since 18-year-old Ahmir Tuli was shot and killed outside his mother’s restaurant in the Strip District where he worked.
The suspect -- Howard Hawkins, who also goes by Mark McClendon -- is still on the run. Police have issued a warrant for his arrest.
But Tuli’s loved ones came together Sunday evening to remember the 2020 graduate of North Hills High School.
>>>DETAILS: 18-year-old North Hills grad dead after shooting outside Strip District bar
“I don’t want him to be forgotten, and I want this monster to be caught,” said Preeti Tuli, the victim’s mother. “I can’t the picture out of my head because I’m the one who came outside, and I watched him take his last breath in the hospital.”
According to police documents, Hawkins got into an argument with other people inside Preeti’s Pitt and security told him to leave. Investigators said he then came back and shot Ahmir Tuli in the head outside the door.
[ RELATED: Family grieves as mourners create memorial outside Strip District bar after deadly shooting ]
Officers helped Tuli until paramedics arrived. Tuli was then taken to a hospital in critical condition, but later died.
Hundreds of people gathered around that same restaurant Sunday to comfort his grieving family. They lit candles and laid flowers at the makeshift memorial, while balloons and doves were released in the air to honor Tuli.
Charges against Hawkins include homicide and carrying a firearm without a license.
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