Vigil held for 20-year-old killed in Olney

OLNEY (WTXF) - They came by the hundreds to the corner of Second and Champlost in Olney Wednesday night to mourn the death of 20-year-old Taleem Allen. The father of a 2-year-old daughter was gunned down Monday night.

"He could help anybody. He was nice," Allen's grandmother told FOX 29 Wednesday night. "He'd come in the house make sure I eat, had my meds, go to the store and get me stuff. He graduated school."

Lora Kennerly proudly wore images of her grandson on a T-shirt celebrating his life and mourning his death. She says young people need to put the guns down.

"I just don't understand why these young guys are taking life for just about anything. You can't get in an argument with people," Kennerly said fighting back tears.

Police say Allen was shot to death execution style just before 9 p.m. Monday night. His killer remains on the loose. Family and friends brought dozens of balloons in his memory and some left their regards on posters with his pictures.

"Painful. So many families mourning and in pain. It just takes a whole city to heal these three families now," Rosalind Pichardo of Operation Save Our City said.

Security was tight at the hour long vigil. Police say they're concerned about more violence. Many in the crowd urged people across the city to stop turning to guns to solve problems. Others came to simply remember a young man gone too soon.

"It says something about this kid. It says that he was loved and that he deserves justice,"Pichardo added.

"It's sad that he would have been 21 yrs old. It's just hard," Kennerly said.

Police have no motive for the murder and no arrests. They have not recovered the murder weapon. They are reviewing surveillance video from near the murder scene.