The House of Praise church in Northeast D.C.’s Deanwood neighborhood was full of grief on Thursday, as 17-year-old Dalaneo Martin’s family prepared to lay him to rest. It was also full of fierce demands for justice.

“This is the hardest part of my life,” Martin’s mother, Terra Martin, told the pews of family and friends who gathered for his funeral service. “But I want Debo to know his name won’t be in vain. I’m gonna fight for justice.”

Martin, also known to family and friends by his nickname “Debo,” was fatally shot by a U.S. Park Police officer in March after he was found asleep in a suspected stolen vehicle on Baker Street NE. As police surrounded the vehicle and attempted to apprehend Martin, the teenager woke up and drove off with a Park Police officer in the back seat.

Body camera footage released by the U.S.Park Police earlier this month shows the officer firing five shots into Martin’s back as he drives, less than a second after first warning Martin he would discharge his weapon if he wasn’t let out. Martin was pronounced dead on the scene after crashing the car into a building. He was 17.

The graphic contents of the footage released by U.S. Park Police and the Metropolitan Police Department (both of whom had officers on the scene) led to outrage from Martin’s family, who held a press conference last week to demand that the officer who shot Martin be charged with murder. USPP has not released the officer’s name, citing privacy protections for federal employees.

Friends and family at the service remembered Martin as a jokester who was fiercely protective of his family. In addition to an infant son named Jordyn, Martin leaves behind nine siblings.

Martin’s sisters held each other and cried as they spoke about their brother at the service.

“Most of all, I ache for the moments that you will never get to share,” Rahketa Steele, Martin’s older sister, said in her remembrance. “You will never get the chance to see Jordyn take his first steps or play with your nieces and nephews. It is a cruel reality to come to terms with, but I promise to keep your memory alive … forever, Delaneo, Debo.”

“I remember when we was babies, and that little boy pushed me and you beat him,” a younger sister said, mustering a small laugh. “You always protected me … long live Debo, long live my twin.”

“The day heaven calls for me will be a relief from all the pain,” said Nishay Martin, another older sister. “That’s my son, too,” she added as she returned to her seat.

In addition to sharing tender memories, family members spoke about the trauma Martin’s death had caused them — and their determination to protest in the wake of his killing. In her speech, Terra Martin spoke directly about the officer who shot her son, saying she wanted to see him “suffer, watching my face in the news, watching my kids — because we’re going to beat these streets for justice.”

The family’s attorney, Jade Mathis, read Martin’s obituary.

“He used his talents to create powerful, heartfelt raps about everything from personal struggles to social issues,” she said. “Dalaneo was a devoted father who changed his life when he welcomed his son into the world.”

And Mathis’s father, Greg Mathis — known best for his long-running courtroom reality show Judge Mathis – delivered a eulogy for Martin.

He compared Martin’s death to the deaths of other Black people killed by police – including Eric Garner, Walter Scott, George Floyd, Alton Sterling, and Breonna Taylor, all of whom he said were “killed by an arm of the government without a trial.”

Mathis also addressed the teenage friends of Martin’s who filled the pews.

“At times our young people have a hopeless mindset … because of the conditions they see. Because the schools have failed you, because the criminal justice system has failed you, because America’s institutions have failed you. They removed the jobs from our community and replaced them with guns and drugs for us to kill ourselves with. And then those left standing – you either lock them up or you shoot them in the back,” he said. “I understand – but you can’t give up.”

He went on to describe possible next steps for the fight – including urging Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a package of police reforms that was introduced and passed the House of Representatives after Floyd’s murder — but later lost momentum in the Senate.

“You gonna march with me, Ms. Martin?” he asked.

“I’m there,” she replied.