Gina Damron and Romain Blanquart

Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — Three years ago, Bilal Berreni left France for Tunisia, where he painted images on cardboard of those who had fallen during the revolution.

He spent time in a camp on the Libyan border to paint images of refugees, and he lived for more than a month in a hut in northern Sweden, drawing and spending hours each day collecting wood to keep warm.

The young French street artist came to Detroit, too. He was here twice, but exactly what he did here still isn't clear. But the trip he made to the city last year was his last, anywhere.

The 23-year-old painter was found dead at the dilapidated Brewster project on Detroit's east side. He had been shot in the face, and his body was left lying in the street.

For months, his body was unidentified at the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office, as loved ones in France waited for word from him.

Authorities had little to go on because no identification was found with his body and some of the clothing he wore, though unique, had been purchased at a Salvation Army store.

But there was one clue: Michigan State Police Detective Trooper Sarah Krebs noticed he was wearing European-style boots. She had his fingerprints run through a federal database, and the hit came back this month.

Now his name is known, but his killing remains a mystery. Detroit police are seeking anyone in the local art community who knew Berreni or had contact with him. Meanwhile, his loved ones are planning a memorial service in Paris on Sunday.

Mourad Berreni, Bilal's father, said his son created artwork with social messages. He said Bilal was drawn to Detroit.

"From what I understand, he was interested in what can be born out of chaos," Mourad Berreni, speaking in French, said through a translator Thursday from Paris. "For him, it represented the failure of capitalism and believed that from that chaos something can be born."

Wind of revolution

Bilal Berreni, whose brother was an actor in France, began doing street art at age 15 in the 20th Arrondissement of Paris — the same area where he was born, his father said.

Mourad Berreni said his son, who was slightly color-blind, painted in black and white to create large-scale pieces on building walls. Bilal, whose street alias was Zoo Project, was looking for a way to be part of a system he did not agree with, his father said.

"He was an enlightened being, pure, who did not make any concession with society," Mourad Berreni said. "He felt that he had to say what he believed."

Mourad Berreni said his son was an intellectual and nonconformist.

"One day, I saw him drawing in Paris. He said, 'Look, Daddy,' and he remained silent," he said. "He was painting a bunch of guys typing on computers all connected one to another to say that they are all dependent, an absurd society. That was Bilal."

Bilal Berreni decided to go abroad to Tunisia after the brief uprising ended there in 2011.

He told his parents: "I am going to smell the wind of revolution," his father said.

While there, Berreni painted the images of people who died fighting government troops and displayed them outside in the streets. From there, he went to a refugee camp on the Libyan border. He not only drew pictures of the refugees, he also taught them to draw.

Le Monde magazine wrote about Berreni's work in 2011. Eventually, Berreni traveled to the U.S.

Laurent Carpentier, a journalist with Le Monde who said he is friends with Berreni's parents, said Berreni was in New York in the summer of 2012, selling pizzas and sleeping in parks in Brooklyn.

He said Berreni hopped freight trains but was arrested in Ohio. Mourad Berreni said he doesn't believe his son was charged, but he did spend a short time in jail, where he wrote a 40-page book about his experience.

From there, Carpentier said, Bilal Berreni traveled to Detroit, where he stayed for a month before catching a bus back to New York and then home to France. He had gotten a 40,000-euro grant to work on a film and went back to help a friend finish editing it. The film, Carpentier said, led Berreni and his friend across Europe all the way to Vladivostok, Russia. Berreni would draw and his friend would film him, he said.

Not afraid of danger

In March 2013, Carpentier said, Berreni came back to Detroit.

Berreni's parents know little of his time in the city. His father said Berreni may have occasionally been a squatter. Carpentier himself came to Detroit in June to write about the impact of the city's bankruptcy on the Detroit Institute of Arts. He said he looked for Berreni but never found him.

His father said he was trying to perfect his English and would translate lyrics from rap songs. Berreni had been listening to blues music before leaving for Detroit, and his father said he wouldn't be surprised if he had been hanging around musicians here. Carpentier said Berreni had bought a piano with money his parents sent for his birthday and wanted to learn to play it. His birthday was in June.

"Bilal was not afraid of danger," Mourad Berreni said. "He belongs to these unafraid knights."

The last time Bilal Berreni's heard from him was on July 23, when he e-mailed asking for his medical records because his allergies were acting up, Mourad Berreni said. His son's body was found on July 29.

He had been shot once in the face. Police didn't find a wallet or passport on him.

Short, bright presence

Bilal Berreni was found on St. Antoine, near Alfred, at the Brewster-Douglass public housing project, a sprawling complex that has been empty since 2008 and is being demolished. His death has been ruled a homicide by the medical examiner's office.

Detroit police spokesman Sgt. Michael Woody said at least one bullet casing was found at the scene. He said police are investigating the possibility that Berreni was robbed.

"We're happy that we solved the identification, but now it's an unsolved homicide," Detective Krebs said.

Mourad Berreni said it was not uncommon for the family to not hear from Bilal regularly. When they stopped seeing activity on his bank account, they began to worry, he said. The family reached out to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January.

Woody said police are working with the French consulate and are seeking anyone in Detroit who knew Bilal Berreni or has information about the crime.

"The message that we really want to get out to our citizens, and especially to the art community, is they lost an icon or a potential icon, somebody that was really up and coming in their field," Woody said. "We really want to work hard to try and find out who the killer is and get them into custody."

Mourad Berreni said people will remember his son's short but bright presence.

"He might not have been born at the right time," he said of Bilal, who he said may have belonged "in a past century. He needed to discover the world and its truths; discover these things that give meaning to the world.

"He was like that. No concessions."