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Memorial Billboard Honors Slain Football Player

Photo by KEVIN HOWE

Lucy, right, and Ernest Mills, grandparents of Cedric "C.J." Mills, look on as Flo Mills, left, Mills' stepmother, and Lakesha Baxter, his mother, unveil a sign honoring Mills.

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By JAMIE PILARCZYK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 2, 2008

TAMPA - About 60 people gathered Saturday evening next to the Cedric "C.J." Mills Football Field at Lincoln Gardens Park to unveil a memorial plaque for their beloved grandson, son, friend and teammate.

The Jefferson High School football star was 17 when he was gunned down in his driveway on April 25, 2007, in a slaying that remains unsolved. His family wants to make sure not only that the memory of him stays alive, but that people step forward if they have information about who shot Mills.

"Without a doubt, there are people in the Tampa Bay community that know what happened," said Tampa police Maj. George McNamara, who attended Saturday night. "We're asking them to cooperate."

A sign about 7 feet tall was erected with three photos of Mills: one from his first year of youth football when he was 7 years old, one from his last year of youth football at 15 years old and his Jefferson High School sophomore photo, the last one taken before he died.

"I want the football players to be inspired," said Lucy Mills, C.J.'s grandmother. "I want them to see it, touch it and say, 'I can do better.' I want it to inspire them."

His mother, LaKesha Baxter, said as a child, her son aspired to play in the National Football League and spent many hours playing football at Lincoln Gardens Park, now named in his honor.

He was known for his innate leadership abilities, his caring heart and his desire to put 100 percent into everything he did.

"Once he got an idea, he'd run with it," said the Rev. William Leonard II, C.J.'s minister at St. Matthew Missionary Baptist Church. "We can smile today because he represented a life God wants us to live."

McNamara said he feels people in the community know the identities of the two men who fatally shot Mills in broad daylight while he was standing in his Carver City driveway at 4219 W. Laurel St.

"It has taken more than a year but things are going on behind the scene," said McNamara about the investigation. "We're not there yet, but we're close."

Police described the men who shot C.J. as black, about 5 feet 9 to 5 feet 10 inches tall, and weighing 160 to 190 pounds. One was light-skinned, the other of medium complexion. Both wore bandannas and carried handguns.

The Mills family is offering up to a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Police are asking for those with information to contact (813)231-6130 or call Crime Stoppers at (800) 873-8477.

Reporter Jamie Pilarczyk can be reached at (813) 259-7661 or jpilarczyk@tampatrib.com.

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