WSVN — Roy Capps was Josetta’s little brother, little baby brother.Josetta Ventry: “I taught him to walk, taught him to talk.”
By 1994 Roy was a young man who had become an air conditioner mechanic, and one night was standing outside International House of Pancakes after eating a late meal with some friends.
Detective Robert Rettig, Plantation Police Department: “They were approached by two black males, one holding a semi-automatic handgun, the other holding a shotgun.”
Roy was with four of his buddies when the robbers walked up. They weren’t hurt. Roy was wearing a Fort Lauderdale Police T-shirt. Maybe that’s why he was shot.
Detective Rettig: “After the shotgun blast, the suspects then fled the area in a white Jeep Cherokee, and they fled southbound toward Interstate 595.”
Roy was dead on the scene. Josetta got the call at work.
Josetta Ventry: “I picked up the phone and said hello, and heard my mother screaming that he’s dead, and I didn’t want to hear that.”
Roy’s mother was told she could go to the morgue to look at her son one more time, but Josetta said no.
Josetta Ventry: “I don’t want her to see him like that, because according to the police report, he was cut in half.”
A coward had shot him point blank with a shot gun, destroying a life over nothing.
Josetta Ventry: “They took a beeper and his life, for a beeper and a necklace.”
The witnesses described the white Jeep Cherokee the murderers fled in, but no one was able to get a tag number.
Detective Rettig: “Today’s day and age, we have surveillance video just about everywhere, and back then it just wasn’t the case, so we didn’t have that luxury.”
That was 19 years ago. Today a lot has changed. Roy’s mother and father have passed away. Josetta, like the rest of us, has grown older, but one thing is the same: The killers are still unknown. Maybe they are enjoying life, maybe they’re in jail for other crimes they committed, but they haven’t paid for killing Roy Capps.
Detective Rettig: “I’m confident that someone out there has information regarding this case, and I pray that that person comes forward and does the right thing.”
In 1994, Roy Capps and some friends were standing outside an IHOP. In 1994, two wannabe tough guys walked up to them. Nineteen years have gone by.
Josetta Ventry: “It’s just not knowing why, drives me crazy.”
At least two people know who killed Roy: the killers. And odds are many more people know as well.
Josetta Ventry: “He was my only brother. I loved him so much.”
Nearly two decades ago, Roy’s family, his friends, and his fiancée pleaded with South Floridians to help police catch Roy’s killer. Now, 19 years later, it’s safe for someone to say something, safe to make an anonymous phone call to Broward Crime Stoppers, and if you have lost a loved one and want to remind people you are Out for Justice, give us a call.
I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Out For Justice
Miami-Dade: 305-598-HELP (4357)
Broward: 954-796-HELP (4357)