Help Us Lay Muhammad Ebn Akili Muhtaraam Conley to Rest (This is the Official GoFundMe)

On Thursday, September 24, 2026, our family suffered an unimaginable loss. Our beloved Muhammad Ebn Akili Muhtaraam Conley, just 25 years old, was shot and killed.

There are no words that can adequately express what it means to lose a son, grandson, father, brother, nephew, cousin, and friend so suddenly.

Muhammad was so much more than the circumstances surrounding his death.

He was a young man who had faced adversity and, like many of us, had a past that included choices he was not proud of. But Muhammad had begun to understand something incredibly important: our past does not have to determine our future.

In recent months, Muhammad was intentionally working to change the direction of his life.

After turning 25, he began embracing his responsibilities as a father and thinking more seriously about the man he wanted to become- for himself and for his son. He enrolled at Fresno City College, pursuing an education in psychology. He was proud of becoming a college student. He purchased his first laptop for school, began working on his assignments, and would talk with me about his classes and what he was learning.

These may seem like small things to some people, but to our family, they represented something much bigger.

They represented hope.

Muhammad was determined to change the narrative of his life.

His father, his mother, grandmother, aunt, and family had always encouraged him to recognize the possibilities that existed for his future. We reminded him that he was capable of becoming more, that his son was watching, and that he could be an example of what it means to choose a different path.

And Muhammad was beginning to believe it for himself and he was telling others.

Muhammad and his brother came to live with us when they were young. His father worked hard as a truck driver while our family- our village- helped raise them. We watched these boys grow into young men, navigating a world that can be incredibly difficult for young people facing adversity and societal challenges.

Through it all, there was a light in Muhammad.

He had a gentle heart. He was a giver. He loved his family. He loved basketball. He loved his son. And he had dreams for his future.

We grieve not only the person we lost, but also the future we will never get to see.

Muhammad had hoped to continue his education and become the first male graduate from college in our family. He wanted to become the father he knew he could be. He wanted his life to mean something.

He deserved the opportunity to see where that new chapter could take him.

Instead, his life was tragically cut short.

Our family is now faced with the heartbreaking responsibility of laying Muhammad to rest. We are asking our family, friends, community, and anyone whose heart is moved by Muhammad’s story to help us with his burial expenses.

If you are able to contribute, any amount will make a difference.

If you cannot give financially, we ask that you please keep Muhammad’s son and our entire family in your prayers, share his story, or simply offer a word of kindness.

And perhaps most importantly, we hope Muhammad’s story inspires something beyond this moment of grief.

Let us remember that people are more than their worst decisions.

Let us remember that young people deserve opportunities to change.

Let us invest in mentorship, education, second-chance programs, youth development, violence prevention, and organizations that give young people the tools and support they need to create a different future.

Muhammad will never have the opportunity to finish the story he had begun writing for himself.

But perhaps his story can help another young person realize that their past does not have to determine their future.

Perhaps another young person will receive a second chance.

Perhaps another father will have the opportunity to become the man he hopes to be.

Perhaps another family will get to see their son graduate.

That is the hope we carry alongside our grief.

Muhammad, you were loved. You are deeply missed. And you will forever be a part of our family.

With love,

The Conley Family