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Michael Nana Baffour Addo was a well-liked pharmacist at Rite Aid in the Frandor Shopping Center in Lansing.

(Courtesy photo)

LANSING -- Michael Addo left behind a wife and child in Ghana when he was shot and killed at a Lansing pharmacy. Now, the Lansing Regional Sister Cities Commission is working to get him home to his family.

Addo, a pharmacist at the Rite Aid in Frandor Shopping Center, was one of two people shot and killed in separate incidents. The alleged shooter, Ricard Walter Taylor, has been charged with two counts of murder in the shootings.

The 35-year-old had moved to the United States to become a pharmacist, and was financially supporting his wife, 11-month-old daughter and his parents back in Ghana, and his family cannot afford to have his remains transported back to Ghana for burial.

The Sister Cities Commission is stepping in to help because Lansing has a relationship with the city of Akuapim, Ghana, according to Allena Tapia, a commissioner and communications chair for the group.

The commission is raising funds to cover the cost of transporting Addo's remains back to Ghana for a family burial, and has organized a local memorial service as well.

"Addo's body will be returned to his wife and family in Ghana, where he will receive a traditional funeral and burial surrounded by those who loved him. All donations will go toward these expenses, the memorial, and to provide for his wife and infant child," according to a statement from the commission.

The commission has set up a donation page on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe to solicit funds, and will also accept donations on the commission's site. Donations can be sent via mail to the commission at 500 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing, MI 48912.

As of Saturday afternoon, more than $1,000 had been raised via the GoFundMe page.

A public memorial service will be held Saturday, May 24, at 7 p.m. at Union Missionary Baptist Church, 500 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Lansing.