SPRING HILL, Fla. — Close to 200 people took over a busy Spring HIll intersection Sunday afternoon to ask for help finding information in an unsolved murder.
Alek Smith, 22, was killed last October. Hernando County investigators say about three people broke into Smith's home where they beat him and shot him in front of his girlfriend and 2-year-old daughter.
Smith died on the way to the hospital.
Smith's family and friends wore shirts with his picture on it, and held signs with a picture of him and his daughter while they asked for justice.
"No one deserves to suffer what my son suffered," said Smith's mother, Elizabeth Clark.
"The tragedy has only just begun," said Clark. "Her father will miss everything in her life."
Now -- nearly a year later -- the leads and tips have dried up. The people responsible for killing Smith are still free.
"It means that when you're pumping gas the person standing next to you could be the person responsible," Clark said. "I've had to walk around for nearly a year not knowing who killed my son."
Clark said she is in constant communication with investigators, and they've put in a lot of hours trying to solve the case.
"We need the community to help," she said. "I need to know who did this to my son and why they did this to my son."
The motive is still unknown. Investigators said they don't believe this was random and drugs may have been involved.
