Lehigh Acres mom fights for answers about son’s murder

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LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. A mother of a man gunned down five days after Hurricane Irma is demanding answers about who pulled the trigger.

“I won’t stop until there’s justice,” Michelle Wright said. “I can’t. There has to be justice.”

Her son, Aden James Wright, 20, was shot and killed Sept. 14 along Leonard Boulevard South.

He assumed the car in front of him ran out of gas when it suddenly stopped, but when he honked his horn, someone from the car shot and killed him, according to investigators.

MORE: Man, 20, fatally wounded in Lehigh Acres

“He actually had said to his friend in the car, ‘I wonder if he’s out of gas. I have a gallon of gas,'” Michelle Wright said.

Aden Wright was on the road to go get a pizza, his mother said, an effort to obtain a slice of normal life after the storm’s passage.

Hours later, his mother got the news she’ll never forget.

“I fell on my knees when I got the phone call,” she said. “No one would answer me on where he was shot at. So I knew that was bad.”

Michelle Wright said her son was her best friend and acted as the man of the house.

“He was a good kid,” she said. “He had a good heart.”

Now, she’s on a mission to find his killer, demanding answers from detectives and doing research on her own.

Lee County Sheriff’s deputies have released a sketch of a person of interest, but through witnesses, Wright has come to believe someone else pulled the trigger.

MORE: Sketch released of ‘person of interest’ in deadly Lehigh shooting

“It’s not the shooter,” she said. “The sketch is not the shooter. It is someone who was in the vehicle.”

Wright hopes everyday to hear details from detectives. For her, life simply stopped when she lost her son.

“I can’t grieve, I can’t move on, I can’t do any of that,” she said. “All I know is I need justice for Aden. And if I can’t get that, I don’t know what to do.”

Deputies said they were last in touch with Wright on Sunday and maintain the investigation is very active. Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is also hoping more witnesses come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS (8477). All callers will remain anonymous and will be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000.

Tips may also be made online at www.southwestfloridacrimestoppers.com or by submitting a tip through the P3Tips mobile app.

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