John Robert Thomas, 19, of Lake City, Florida, was shot in the head and killed on December 9, 2001. He had borrowed a cousin’s 1997 gray Nissan Altima to return a bracelet to the local Walmart; surveillance suggests up to two other people may have been in the car that night. Between midnight and 4 a.m. he was seen at a house on Northeast Washington Street near Northeast Broadway Avenue where witnesses said someone was handling a small semiautomatic weapon and John felt unsafe. He left, was stopped on the porch, and a struggle over a watch led to someone in the crowd producing a handgun and fatally shooting him. He was found dead on Northeast Broadway Avenue at 4:50 a.m. The borrowed car was found the next day burned in Live Oak.

Multiple witnesses were interviewed during the investigation. In 2002 a woman was arrested after DNA from the scene matched hers, but a grand jury declined to bring charges because the DNA alone did not prove she fired the shot. The case remains unsolved; the Lake City Police Department has periodically renewed requests for information. John’s family and friends remember him as kind and sweet, and his aunt Heather Landacre has continued to push for publicity in hopes of new leads.

If anyone has information about that night or about people seen with John in the Altima, please contact the Lake City Police Department.