SAN ANTONIO – More than a year after a man was fatally shot outside of his Far East Side home, authorities are still searching for his killer. His family is pleading anyone with information to come forward.
Crime Stoppers on Sunday revived its call for tips in the death of 47-year-old Lonnie Franklin Jr. Franklin was found dead Dec. 29, 2017, outside his home in the 4700 block of Belinda Lee Drive. His brother, with whom he shared the home, told police he heard the gunshot, but there were no other witnesses to the shooting, police said.
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A spokeswoman for the department, Sgt. Michelle Ramos, told KSAT in December 2017 that "the suspect had to have known where this individual lived 'cause he walked right up to him."
Police said Franklin may have been going back inside after warming up his car, which he left running in the driveway, when he was shot in the upper torso area.
"(We're) wondering why the person who committed this crime is still going free," said Lonnie Franklin Sr., Lonnie Franklin Jr.'s father.
Franklin, a beloved cook at Fort Sam Houston, had four children, one as young as 1-year-old at the time of his death, his family said.
"(His daughter) recognizes him, even though she was just over a year old when he passed, but she do know that's her daddy," the elder Franklin said.
"I continue to pray this case will come to an end and that the person who murdered my son will come to justice," he said.
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Crime Stoppers may pay up to $5,000 for information leading to Franklin's arrest.
"(He) wasn't into anything except his kids and work and church — every Sunday," Franklin's sister, Tammy Ussery, told KSAT in December 2017.
Ussery also had a message for the person who killed her brother.
"You know there will be a day that you will stand before our Lord and you will have to account for this," Ussery previously told KSAT. "I have no animosity. I have no need to retaliate because what I can do to you is going to be nothing compared to what the Lord will do to you."