19-Year-Old Public School Employee Fatally Shot In His Home Remembered for Always Making Friends, Family 'Feel Safe'

The family of a 19-year-old Washington, D.C. public school employee is remembering their son as a bright young man with a gigantic smile this week, as police say they’re still working to track down his killer.

“Every picture you see of him, I promise you will see all 32 of his teeth,” Donnell Stephenson’s stepmom, Erika Stephenson, told local outlet NBC 4 during an emotional interview with the 19-year-old’s family.

Stephenson was shot and killed inside his own home early Sunday morning, the Prince George’s County Police Department said in a news release this week, asking the public for tips about the murder.

“Investigators are working to determine a motive and identify a suspect(s),” the police department said.

The Washington, D.C. area police department said it’s offering “a reward of up to $25,000” for any “information leading to an arrest and indictment in this case.”

Stephenson’s family says his shooting death shocked them, while his stepmother told NBC4 she’s been “numb” since the weekend.

“My husband and I keep saying we’re just waiting for him to stick his key on the door,” Stephenson’s stepmother Erika said.

Stephenson’s older sister Aniya Stephenson told the outlet that Donnell “was an innocent bystander” and that the family doesn’t understand what happened. His stepmother told NBC 4 that Stephenson was having dinner with his family when he said he was going outside “for a quick second” before he was suddenly shot and killed.

Stephenson’s stepmother said the 19-year-old, who recently got a custodial job with Prince George’s County Public Schools, had a family “who loves him.”

“I feel like the world, you know, social media, views him as just another young Black man, but he wasn’t,” she told NBC 4. “He was somebody’s brother, somebody’s son, best friend, cousin, support system.”

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Stephenson’s sister added that her younger brother was known for brightening up a room. “Everybody that ever came into his space, he made them laugh, he made them feel safe,” she told the outlet.

PEOPLE has reached out to a spokesperson with the Prince George’s County Police Department for an update on the investigation.