Woman pleads for help after son's murder case goes cold

Randy Ponder was killed outside his Lauderhill home 2 years ago

“They don’t know what they took away from me. They took away the blessing, the joy of my life -- the peace of me,” Tammy Johnson said of her son Randy Ponder (right).

LAUDERHILL, Fla. – For the past two years, detectives at the Lauderhill Police Department have been working to solve the murder of 29-year-old Randy Ponder, but the investigation has gone cold. The victim’s mother is now stepping in, promising to never stop fighting for justice.

“I don’t want him to be forgotten,” said Tammy Johnson, Ponder’s mother.

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Johnson’s pain began on the night she learned her son had been murdered.

“It hurts so bad and it never goes away,” Johnson said.

Despite the setbacks faced by police, Johnson knows the case will be solved.

“I don’t have a doubt because I believe in God. It’s just that my patience -- being a mother -- going through what I’m going through -- is what’s bothering me,” Johnson said.

Ponder was shot to death in the driveway of the home where he lived at the time in the 1300 block of Northwest 54th Avenue in Lauderhill. Ponder’s girlfriend and their two children were home at the time and came outside to find his body.

Detectives know he was involved in an altercation at a nearby convenience store earlier in the day, but their leads have gone cold.

“They don’t know what they took away from me. They took away the blessing, the joy of my life -- the peace of me,” Johnson said.

Ponder’s death happened as the family was still grieving. Ponder’s brother had recently died of complications from diabetes.

Today, she continues to push for justice.

“I’m not gonna stop. I can’t stop. It ain’t in me to stop,” Johnson said.

Investigators are certain that someone out there is sitting on some crucial information that could help solve this case and ease this mother’s pain.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.


About the Author:

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.