$10,000 reward offered in Winter Haven cold case

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The mother of a teen killed while walking home from church 10 years ago is reliving some of those painful memories.

“It’s like someone punched you and you never saw it coming,” Charlena Smith-Lattimore.

Smith-Lattimore lost her 18-year-old son, Torey Smith early Easter morning, 2017. He was shot in the back as he walked home with his cousin after practicing with his church quartet.

It happened on Avenue T Northeast in Winter Haven.

On Tuesday, detectives from the Winter Haven Police Department canvassed the area where Smith was killed for the second time in the last few years.

They handed out flyers and put up signs with Smith’s photo and the details of his murder.

Smith-Lattimer is convinced, in a place as small and tight-knit as Winter Haven, someone knows who killed her son.

“They’re afraid to come out because they don’t want their son to be locked up,” she said.

Police want to keep Smith on people’s minds, hoping someone's memory will be jogged, leading detectives to the shooter. 

“I don’t have any malice in my heart or wish evil on this man that shot my son, but I know justice is going to be [served],” she said. “He is gonna have to pay for that.”

Call Heartland Crimestoppers at 1 (800) 226-TIPS if you know anything about the case. There is a $10,000 reward for information leading to the killer.