Four years after her daughter was gunned down at a Phoenix food truck, Brena Gilliam-Miller is still waiting for the one thing she hasn’t been able to find: answers. Her daughter, 23-year-old Destiny McClain, was ordering food near 17th Street and McDowell Road on a July morning in 2021 when someone opened fire and disappeared into the dark. The shooter has never been identified.
As another birthday approaches — Destiny’s golden birthday, no less — her mother says the grief feels sharper than ever. “I don’t have that closure,” Gilliam-Miller said. “And to not know who did this… it’s even harder.”
Police released surveillance video of a vehicle leaving the scene back in 2021. Since then, the case has stalled. Gilliam-Miller has not. She launched the Our Destiny Our Future Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at honoring her daughter, supporting families affected by gun violence, and keeping pressure on authorities to solve the case.
This weekend, the family is hosting a pair of events in Destiny’s honor: a birthday tattoo fundraiser on Friday, followed by a virtual vigil Saturday evening. There’s no livestream, no formal program — just a call to light a candle at 7 p.m. in any time zone and post it with the hashtag #JusticeForDestiny. “Every share is one more person who might know something,” her mother said. “That could bring us closer to answers.”
Earlier this year, a digital billboard went up across the Valley with Destiny’s photo and the number for tips. The vigil and tattoo fundraiser are the latest efforts to push the story back into public view.
But Gilliam-Miller’s campaign has grown beyond her daughter’s case. She’s asking state lawmakers to consider reinstating front license plates in Arizona — a requirement the state dropped in the 1990s. She says having only a rear plate left investigators with almost nothing to work with when surveillance captured a vehicle near the murder scene.
“I just got a photo of a car,” she said. “I don’t know the model — just the color. A plate or some kind of identification on the front could’ve given us a lead. Maybe we wouldn’t be here four years later.”
She has submitted a proposal and is waiting to hear back from lawmakers about whether a bill could move forward next session. She knows the idea will face pushback. She also knows she doesn’t care.
“At this point, it’s not about me,” she said. “It won’t help my daughter. I don’t want another mother to go through this.”
Police say the investigation remains open. Anyone with information is urged to contact Phoenix police or submit an anonymous tip to Silent Witness.
