BILLINGS - Family and friends gathered on the rims Thursday night to remember a loved one lost too soon.
Brendon McMahan was 24 when he was killed exactly 6 months ago, on Nov. 9, 2023.
On Thursday his family held a memorial at one of his favorite spots, Swords Park.
There have been no arrests in the case, but his mother says she is still extremely thankful for the work of all the detectives and their constant efforts to find justice for her son.
McMahan enjoyed going to the rims to walk around with his mother when he was a child. And as an adult, he also went up here to explore.
“To lose someone so special, is really hard to bear,” said Becky Braley, Brendon’s mother. “Keeping my emotions in check. But the best thing I think you can say to somebody is just give them a kind memory of that person.”
Braley wore purple to bring awareness to violence.
McMahan was killed in a shooting and his body was found at the Fox Meadows apartment complex on Monad Road.
“As a parent, this is your worst fear,” Braley said. “It's the worst pain that you'll ever feel in your life. Nothing else compares to it."
“He loved me like a brother and he loved everybody like a brother,” one of Brendon’s friends said at the remembrance.
Police have not made any arrests and Braley and her family understand.
“I want to definitely thank our police and the detectives that are working on our case,” Braley said. “I want them to do a thorough investigation because whoever did this, I'm living the rest of my life without my son.”
And others at the vigil also shared their memories of Brendon.
“He was the light on a rainy day,” said Dakota Sipes, Brendon’s cousin. “He really was. He's missed by a lot.”
“Sometimes certain thoughts hit you and you just get kind of sad,” said Meghan Pribblee, Brendon’s sister-in-law. “And being there for the people that you love is hard knowing there's nothing that you can say that fix things or make it right.”
“A special man,” Braley said about her son. “Very loving, intelligent, kind, humorous. His friends were like family to him. Brendon never ever left the home or a conversation or work, anywhere without saying I love you to the person he was with."
