SOMERSET CENTER, Mich. — It’s been a tough few months for Mary and Robert Flint. Their son was shot and killed in Somerset Center in late May, and now, frustration is growing over where the case stands.
“He was my first born. He loved his family. He loved his friends. He was a hard worker. He never got in trouble,” Robert said.
“He just loved being with family, his girlfriend. He was just caring,” Mary said.
Robert Flint’s parents remember the 16-year-old as a budding artist who loved the outdoors and spending time with his family.
“We worked together, and every day at work, he would always want to stop and pick me flowers,” Mary said. “He was supposed to give me a Mother’s Day present. Flowers for Mother’s Day with the next check, and it didn’t happen. I have his next check in the drawer.”
That’s because in May, Somerset Township police were dispatched to Mill Street near U.S. 12 in Hillsdale County on a report of an altercation and a shooting.
When police arrived, they found Flint laying in a ditch with a gunshot wound to his neck.
He later died.
The person who shot the gun is 66-year-old Kirk Culik, who was arrested on murder charges. He’s claiming self-defense. His attorney Dean Greenblatt says it’s a convoluted case with a difference of opinion and memory on who initiated the violence.
“I don’t want people to feel our pain because this isn’t a pain I would wish on anybody,” Robert said.
Adding to the Flint’s frustration is delays in the court process.
Instead of moving forward, the case has been remanded back to a district court with questions about evidence. It’s left a mother and father without their son and a giant hole in their hearts.
“I still have a voice recording of him saying, ‘I love you,'” Mary said.
“I love you too, Mom. I don’t know if you heard me,” Robert said in the voice recording.
We have reached out to Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jamie Wisniewski but have not heard back.
As of late August, the case is being taken back to district court due a judge error.
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