WSVN — He was home alone when someone came in and shot him execution style. As Patrick Fraser tells us on tonight’s Out for Justice, a Lauderdale Lakes family and Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives are asking for your help in solving a brutal crime.
In many ways, Steven Rutty was a normal 18-year-old kid.
Simone Channer: “He liked music. Most of his music is Bob Marley.”
He loved animals, especially his dog Patra, but another thing he liked: His friends were not normal.
BSO Detective Frank Ilarraza: “Steven Rutty had made a few wrong choices in his life and associated with the wrong people.”
On August 5th, 2013, Simone was leaving for work. She told Steven, who was still in bed, to remember to take his dog Patra outside.
Simone Channer: “He was laying there, and I said, ‘Did you hear me?’ And he say yes.”
Those were the last words Simone heard from her son. Later that morning, it appears one of those bad friends that Steven had made may have come over.
Frank Ilarraza: “Because it appears there was no forced entry, so he might have let that person in, knowing that person.”
That afternoon, Steven’s stepfather came home and found him dead in the bathroom, shot execution style.
Simone Channer: “It’s like the world end.”
Simone and other family members rushed home in shock.
Simone Channer: “You don’t want to hear that your child, your 18-year-old child is in your house dead.”
Both Steven’s and Simone’s rooms were ransacked and some jewelry taken, but detectives don’t think robbery was the motive. They believe there was a problem between Steven and one of those bad friends from the North Lauderdale area.
Frank Ilarraza: “And he might have had somebody he had a problem with, that was looking for him and went into the house and confronted him.”
The killer got away, but fortunately left some evidence behind. Detective Ilarraza has DNA and fingerprints that probably came from the suspect, and witnesses saw a car parked in the driveway around the time Steven was killed.
Frank Ilarraza: “We have some information about a black, looks like an Altima-type vehicle, four door with rims. It has oversized rims on it.”
Detectives want to find that car.
Frank Ilarraza: “This person had no remorse whatsoever. Going to Steven’s house, his own house, and executed him. Therefore, that person is dangerous. That person should not be out there. That person will do this to him and anyone else out there.”
Simone won’t move from the house where her son was murdered. She says the house he was raised in, constantly reminds her of him..
She has put a picture of Steven and his hero Bob Marley in the bathroom where he was executed, and she wants to be here on the day Detective Ilarraza comes to tell her they have caught Steven’s killer.
Simone Channer: “Just turn yourself in. You can run, but you can never hide, and whoever come in my house and brutally murder my son, your day is coming, and God have mercy on your soul.”
There is a $3,000 reward waiting for the person who lets Detective Ilarraza know who killed Steven Rutty. Call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS to collect a check and anonymously help catch a killer.
And if you have lost a loved one and want to remind people you are still out for justice, give us a call. With this Out for Justice, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
CONTACT OUT FOR JUSTICE:
Miami-Dade: 305-598-HELP (4357)
Broward: 954-796-HELP (4357)