ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Family and friends gathered Friday to remember 5-year-old Malakai Stovall, the Rochester boy who died after a fire at his home that police say was intentionally set.

“I want the community to know that he was the bravest boy ever,” Malakai’s mother Brianna Akers said. “He didn’t care who you were. He talked to you. He loved you. He said hi to you.”

Releasing balloons outside what’s left of her home, Akers says she won’t rest until there is justice for her son Malakai.

“I’m going to find who did this to my baby,” Akers said. “My baby was burned alive. And no one needs to forget that.”

Malakai was inside the home on Portland Avenue when the fire started at 2 a.m. Monday. He was taken to Strong Hospital with burns on 75% of his body. He died Thursday.

“I will take it to my grave,” said Malakai’s grandmother Karen Mitchell. “I will take it to my grave. I will never rest until you are all caught.”

Mitchell drove in from New England to join family members, wrapping their arms around each other and praying for answers.

“He spends every summer in New England with us,” Mitchell said. “And he came home early. And he was supposed to come back before school started. Oh my God. My baby is gone.”

“Please bring justice to Malakai,” Akers said. “Please. Please. He deserves it.”

Police are offering a $5,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for setting the house on fire.

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