Fresno mother makes desperate plea to find her son's killer

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Twenty-year-old Zurich Chatman was shot just outside of his church one week ago in Southwest Fresno. Saturday, family members, and loved ones remain by his bedside at Community Regional Medical Center, as they wait to take him off life support.

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Saturday morning Zurich was pronounced brain dead. His mother Tamara is waiting for his father James who is flying in this afternoon to say his goodbyes. Dozens of family members and friends are inside CRMC, they say their faith in God and police are what's getting them through this trying time.

Exactly one week after her 20-year-old son was shot, Tamara Brown is forced to take her child off life support but there's one thing that brings her peace.

"I know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and Zurich knew the Lord," Brown said.

Tamara's son, Zurich Chatman, was shot just 100 feet from a Southwest Fresno church.

That Saturday morning he was getting ready to leave for a Black History Month trip to Allensworth with his girlfriend and their church group. Chatman's mother says Zurich was able to protect his girlfriend from the gunfire.

"This is a tragedy that we see in our community far too often where innocent people get caught up in all this gunfire and rival shootings that we see," Chief Jerry Dyer of the Fresno Police Department said. "People need to step up and realize that until they get involved and tell us the information that they know help us solve crimes work with us were going to continue to have these senseless gang shootings in our community."

Police announced they have increased the reward to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest.

Last week, officers took 25 guns away from gang members, Chief Dyer says they are exhausting all efforts to find those responsible for Zurich's death and put an end to gang violence.

Zurich's mom tells me they're planning to donate his organs. She says she's learned five people will benefit from his donation.