SAN ANTONIO — Nearly three years after San Antonio rapper Christopher Polk was murdered, the case remains unsolved.
But Polk’s mother also remains determined to find justice for her son, while also showing gratitude to the community who has supported her.
Polk was just 25 years old when, on Feb. 24, 2018, he was gunned down in an ambush attack off Loop 410 near Evers Road.
It was a night Elizabeth Polk will never forget.
“I’m really devastated,” she said. “It’s been two long years.”
Police said the attack was targeted. Around 2:30 a.m., Polk had just left a nearby nightclub when his car was boxed in by at least two other cars, and someone started shooting at Polk’s vehicles.
The popular rapper and aspiring clothing designer died at the scene, leaving behind a 2-year-old daughter.
Even though police have yet to make any arrests in the case, Polk’s mother won’t give up.
“I call that detective every single Friday,” she said. “And it's the same thing: 'No one has come forward. There's no leads. We have no information.'”
Six months after she lost her son, Elizabeth also lost her husband.
“He was a healthy man, but he just couldn't handle the grief of losing Christopher,” Elizabeth said. “The loss of a child is very detrimental.”
Elizabeth said it was her community that stood behind her and gave her hope.
“That's how we're able to get up every day, put one foot in front of the other and keep going,” she said.
And, now she’s giving back to the community who helped her.
“We decided that, you know, the holidays are hard for everybody. They're especially hard for us, and 2020 has been a very devastating here for a lot of people,” Elizabeth said.
It started as a quest to help a handful of families by providing a Thanksgiving dinner basket as a way to honor Christopher and his father.
“We decided that we would do our very first Ape Life Polk Family and Friends Thanksgiving basket giveaway, where we will be giving Thanksgiving baskets to families that are in need."
Elizabeth said that, when the registration went up on Nov. 1, at least 200 families were soon registered.
The basket includes an uncooked turkey, vegetables and dessert. Elizabeth said one of the important blessings of Thanksgiving is spending time together as a family cooking the meal.
Since then, Elizabeth said many more families have reached out for help, and the decades-long social worker doesn’t want to turn anyone away.
“I am reaching out to everyone, asking for donations, whatever they want to (give), because we are going to try to meet the needs of every family that has reached out to us and registered with us."
If you’d like to help with donations to provide for more families in need this Thanksgiving, you can reach out to the Polk family by emailing apelifeapparel@gmail.com.
Christopher Polk started the brand Ape Life Apparel just before he died, and Elizabeth said his sister has kept the business alive.
“Because if we can provide some hope and some love, then maybe someone would in turn provide that same thing to our family," Elizabeth said. "And give us hope, give us peace, give Christopher a chance for justice."
The Thanksgiving baskets will be distributed on Nov. 21 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Holiday Inn Northwest SeaWorld, located at 10135 Hwy 151.
If you have any information about the murder of Christopher Polk, you're asked to call Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP. A reward of up to $5,000 may be offered for information leading to an arrest.