Mother throws birthday party for slain child: 'I never want to forget my son'

Demicha Thomas smoothed back her hair as she looked over the transformed warehouse, her eyes darting as she ran through the checklist in her head. The posthumous birthday party for her son, Gerrik Thomas, needed to be perfect, she said.

Friends and family had helped her set up the all-white decorations at Chopper’s Den in Gardena on July 15. White sheets on the walls, a spacious dance floor, a DJ and flashing lights made the space feel like a party in the Hollywood Hills.

“The same day that he died, I knew I wanted to celebrate his birthday,” Demicha Thomas said. “This day was going to come anyways, and I couldn’t run from it. And I didn’t want to. I never want to forget my son.”

On a late-January evening, Gerrik Thomas was walking to his grandmother’s home near Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue, while talking to his mother on the phone, investigators said. It was dark so she told him to hurry. The 21-year-old told his mother to relax. He would be home soon, his mother recounted.

Within minutes of the call ending, a gunman stepped out of a silver Chevrolet Camaro, which on surveillance video appeared to follow Gerrik Thomas as he walked along 9th Avenue, and opened fire.

Police are looking for witnesses to help identify the shooter and car’s driver. Gerrik Thomas was not in a gang, police said, but the gunman may have been. So on July 19, Demicha Thomas was at 77th Division station for a news conference announcing a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of her son’s killer.

“I have to keep talking about my son because I want justice for him and peace for myself.” Thomas said at the news conference. “Sometimes I can’t even think straight.”

About 10 p.m. on the night of the birthday party, Demicha Thomas was about to head home to change into her party outfit. Guests would begin to arrive soon, and the catered taco stand would have a first batch ready. Everything was in place.

Just before she left, Gerald Thomas smirked at the party’s conversation starter: a collage of photos of his son suspended in an ice fountain over a punch bowl.

“When my wife said she wanted to do this, I just said OK because I knew this would matter so much to her,” Gerald Thomas, 52, said. “It’s big and amazing, and she wants to put on a good time for everyone, but this is very much for her.”

Every day since the killing, his wife has cried, Gerald Thomas said. A bout of grief overcomes her just before work in the morning and again before bed, plus occasional sullen moments throughout the day.

At those times, Demicha Thomas would want to talk about her son to anyone who would listen, but her husband said the family didn’t always want to open up.

Gerald Thomas, who grew up in Watts, said several people close to him have been killed over the years, and although the victim this time was his son, he is not tortured the same way his wife is.  

“Don’t get me wrong. He was my youngest, and that affects me on a personal level, but I don’t know who killed my son, so there’s nothing I can do,” Gerald Thomas said outside the party.

“But Demicha doesn’t think that way. I can tell it hits her really hard, and I can’t always lift her out of her feelings. Not like this party planning has.”

Demicha Thomas agreed. The morning of the party was the first day she did not cry, she said. Keeping busy had kept her from dwelling on her son’s death.

Inside, guests were dancing or leaning against the wall with a drink and a slight groove. Outside, the mood was more low-key. Devin Winston, 25, Gerrik’s older brother, was talking with friends, scanning the crowd for unfamiliar faces.

“If Gerrik was here … he would be having a good time, dancing with girls and acting a fool with his friends,” Winston said.

About 11:30 p.m., Demicha Thomas had returned to the party to kisses and compliments. She asked if she could refill drinks. Everything was going smoothly, but she wanted to keep busy.

As she made the rounds, her mind raced with preparations for a party in a park the next day, and a bonfire the day after that. Maybe even a block party next year, but she would have to pick a date.

Her husband interrupted her to gather the family for a photo. She composed herself, took two short breaths and held onto her family. And as the photographer adjusted her settings, for just a moment, Demicha Thomas smiled.

Contact the Homicide Report. And follow @JeromeRCampbell and @LATimesHomicide on Twitter.

Photos: (First) Demicha Thomas, right, with Camisha Wheeler at the birthday party for Gerrik Thomas. (Second) The scene at the party. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times. Video: Surveillance footage shows the silver Chevrolet Camaro. Credit: LAPD via YouTube