Youngstown marks 1 year since 'Shimmie' Miller's death

Will "Shimmie" Miller left behind a legacy that impacted an entire community.

"He had a passion to serve people. Shimmie was a light and that light just shone wherever he went," Guy Burney, director of the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence and Miller's mentor.

Burney said people loved Miller for the way he connected with the broken and vulnerable and how he saw potential where others only saw a problem.

"Even if it was a crowd of people, you felt like you were the most important person in the room and so we remember that," Burney said. "How he treated people and how he connected because that connection caused change, he just wanted to help. He just wanted people to not have to go through what he went through and live better lives. He always used to talk about that past does not have to determine the future," Burney continued.

Today, Shimmie's R.E.S.P.E.C.T. League and mentorship program is reaching beyond the community.

"It's been going well. We see a lot of familiar faces, and then some new faces," D'Aundray Brown, executive director of the central YMCA said. "I've seen, I would say, more of a passion for programs that he had and that are continuing to do today, just the passion to keep his legacy alive and continue to spread the positivity that he spreads," Brown said.

Burney and Brown work in collaboration with one another to keep Miller's dream alive.

"Dre and I had a chance to go and speak at a statewide conference about R.E.S.P.E.C.T. and so there are different cities right now who want to start the R.E.S.P.E.C.T. league like we have it so that's super exciting," Burney said.

Miller left behind really big shoes to fill, but the community's love for him and their passion for what he's doing keeps them going in the right direction.

"It is hard to do but we're willing to do the work and that's the first step, just like Shimmie was, he was willing to do the work," Brown said.

"He's passed away but his ideas, his vision, the seeds he planted, those are not passed away," Burney said. "The mentorship program is going well, we were in a couple schools this year and they've flourished and they've grown and so, again, we know that he's not with us but he's not gone," he said.

Miller's death was a major trauma to the kids he mentored and for some, it was too much.

"To have to process that and go through that, it obviously was hard on them," Brown said. "You could see the pain in their eyes but to see them continue to do programs and continue to push forward and stay positive is a good alternative," he said.

Youngstown police do have suspects and some evidence, but not enough. YPD urges the community to come forward with any information to help move this case forward.