CARRIER MILLS, IL (WSIL) -- A family wants answers for a cold case in Celine County.
"Don't ever give up, we're not. We started and we aren't going to end," said one supporter to the family.Â
A sister losing two siblings less than two days apart, and a mother losing two children in August of 2007.
"It seems like it's still yesterday because there's never been a closure to it and I want peace," said Mary Miller.
Miller's children Jerome Miller and Jade Winston who died a little more than 24 hours apart almost 15 years ago to this day.
Jade died of a gunshot wound to the head, Jerome died in a car crash about 27 hours later.
"Saline County needs to be held accountable for the mistakes that they made and the person that did murder Jade needs to be brought to justice," said Jade and Jerome's sister Jana Mitchell.
But Saline County Sheriff Whipper Johnson says getting justice after 15 years requires new leads around a case with a lot of questions.
"The timeline showed that three minutes after the then Chief Deputy arrived on scene he declared it a homicide. Another deputy on scene had already declared it self inflicted whether it was accidental or suicide wasn't determined. So I think a combination of overzealous police work and lack of experience in homicide investigations led that investigation to the coroners inquest which returned the homicide," explained Johnson.Â
New leads Johnson says the family says they have but won't give him.
"I don't know what else that we could offer, we're certainly open to interview anybody they've got that has information but nobody's come forward," added Johnson.Â
The family explained why they're not giving new information to the Saline County Sheriff's Office.
"I don't trust them to go over her case if they're looking at it as a suicide or accidental death because like I said our family was never told that," said Jana Mitchell
Leaving the family and friends of Jade Winston and Jerome Miller still searching for justice on their own terms.
