MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Dorothy Williams knew her 2-year-old son liked Marshall, a brave Dalmatian puppy from the Nickelodeon series "PAW Patrol."
When Williams celebrated last Halloween with her son, Carnell Williams-Thomas, he wore Marshall's one-piece jumpsuit and a red firefighter helmet with floppy ears attached to the sides.
Recommended Videos
Williams saved a picture of him smiling. It was one of her favorite pictures of Carnell, so when he was shot and killed Dec. 15, she gave it to Miami-Dade Police Department detectives.
"There was a pop, and she heard him say, 'Mommy.' She grabbed him," Carnell's grandmother, Barbara Williams, said after the shooting.
Doctors at Kendall Regional Medical Center pronounced him dead. Nine months later, detectives still haven't been able to find his killer.
The Miami-Dade Police Department posted a flyer on its Twitter page Thursday night to remind the public that information leading up to an arrest in the case could lead to a reward of up to $37,000.
Carnell was shot while he was playing with a new scooter a few weeks before his family's Christmas celebration. He was in front of his home at the Arthur Mays Villas, a public housing project at 21491 SW 114th Court, in Goulds.
Carnell lived there with his mother, his grandmother and his aunt, who became a wheelchair user after she was also shot. Carnell's mother made a public plea in February, and she sent a message to the killer.
"I know it's killing you inside. I know it is because he was a baby," Williams said in tears. "He was my baby. Please just turn yourself in."
Detectives were asking anyone with information to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS, or send a tip through Facebook, the Crime Stoppers site or the app.
