JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A grieving father is speaking out for the first time since his son was shot and killed two and a half years ago.
19-year old Thomas "T.J." Nunley's body was found on the side of Fort Caroline Road in December 2012. He was 19-years-old at the time and no one has been arrested in the crime. There is still a $15,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.
Thomas Nunley told News4Jax that T.J. would have been celebrating his 22nd birthday on Saturday. In the years that he's been gone, T.J.'s whole family has moved out of Jacksonville. News4Jax spoke to Mr. Nunley via Skype and he said that he's still hopeful that his son's killer will be caught.
From a computer screen at his home in Texas, Thomas Nunley reached out to anyone who will listen, someone who can give him the answers his family needs about who killed his son, T.J.
"Yeah, it's been two years. We're very frustrated, we have no answers on who or why. And at this point, we wanted to get this back out to the public eye," Nunley said. "So please, I ask the people of Jacksonville to just open their hearts and help us try to resolve this."
Instead of celebrating his son's birthday, Nunley can only hold onto the memories he has of the young man with the great sense of humor and spirit for adventure.
"He was very active. He loved to swim and just outdoor stuff. He was a very artistic individual, loved to draw, loved to make things. He was very artistic in that way of making crafts," he said.
Every day, Nunley thinks about that phone call with the news that someone shot and killed T.J. as he was walking along Fort Caroline Road. With no new leads in recent years, T.J.'s case is now cold.
"We want answers for this. We try to keep in contact as often as we can with the JSO, Justice Coalition, and other people that we may know in the area," he said.
With little to go on, but fire in his heart, Nunley does all he can to keep T.J.'s name out there. He said he's not giving up and with his son's memory, he asks the community for help.
"If you know any information, have any information or anything about what had happened on that night, please come talk to the JSO or any of the investigators involved with this. And let them know what you may know because that may help us track down what really did happen and why and who's involved with this," he said.
Nunley also said that his son had no enemies in his life, so he can't imagine why anyone would do this to him. To celebrate T.J. Nunley's birthday this Saturday, family members are planning to do a balloon release in his memory.
Anyone with any information about this case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.