MCCOMB, Miss. (WJTV) – McComb police are asking for the public’s help to solve a recent homicide.

McComb Police Chief Juan Cloy said 25-year-old Deadrian Lee was killed during an apparent ambush on June 8 on Elmwood and Pine Street. He said Lee was shot 14 times.

“They shouldn’t have taken my baby. He was only 25, and they are still living life and took him from his seven-year-old daughter, his only daughter. And that was my only son. So, now she’s asking me questions about her father that I can’t answer. So, I just want justice for my son,” said Sanwan Coney, Lee’s mother.

Investigators are following up on leads in the case, but they need witnesses to come forward. Cloy said it’s getting harder to get people to talk to officers.

“What we’re experiencing in general in law enforcement is almost zero cooperation, even from victims,” the police chief said.

Cloy said gang and drug activity has led to multiple violent incidents in McComb. While McComb police and Pike County deputies are working to put criminals behind bars, Cloy is asking for the public’s help to prevent crime.

“For me, I think the cure is public assistance or not even just assisting us, but even taking the lead, maybe at even some point because we have to have a cultural shift. And if we keep going this way, really just don’t know where we’ll be,” he stated.

Shaunta McDowell, Lee’s cousin and a youth community advocate, said crime prevention starts at home.

“I feel like the community should take back the community. I feel like the politicians and the police officers, they’re there… they’re there to do their jobs. But we also have a job to do to protect our own families before we even get into this type of situation,” she said.

Cloy hopes to work with outside agencies to help troubled youth and repeat offenders.

Anyone with information on the death of Lee can contact the McComb Police Department.