DENVER — An anonymous donor has come forward to increase the reward for information in the 2009 killing of a man in Denver to $50,000. The reward had been $12,000, some of which came from family members.
Ivory Mefford was shot and killed on May 30, 2009, in the 1600 block of E. 31st Ave., according to the Denver Police Department (DPD).
"First, I'd like to thank the donor. It's just a miracle," said Mefford's mother Patrica Rush. "I can't thank them enough for coming forward to help try to solve this case."
Around 5:30 a.m. on May 30, 2009, DPD received a 911 call about a man on the ground in that area near the intersection of East 31st Avenue and Franklin Street.
They located Mefford on the sidewalk between a bus bench and the grass and observed that he had a gunshot wound to his upper body. He was pronounced dead by paramedics.
DPD Detective Mark Crider said they can account for him up until 2 a.m.
"From 2 a.m. up until about 5:30 a.m. we're not sure about his whereabouts and that's one of the things we're trying to find out," he said.
"Over the past 10 years, the investigators involved in this case and interviewed and reinterviewed numerous witnesses," said Matt Clark with DPD's major crimes unit. "Despite the significant amount of work that's been done both internally and through our partners at Metro Denver Crime Stoppers, we've been unable to resolve this case."
Detectives said Mefford was downtown early on the morning of his death, but they can't account for his whereabouts between about 2 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. and are hoping the reward will be an incentive for someone to come forward and fill in those gaps.
"This case is 10 1/2 years old, and when we're dealing with cases like this, there could be just a small piece of information seemingly insignificant that could change the direction of this case and give us significant traction to move it forward," said Clark.
Rush, Mefford's mother, said she misses her son every day and noted that he was her only child. She made a plea for anyone with information to come forward and said she know someone knows something.
"It would be mean, I could rest easy at night, to know that there really is justice, because that's all I want for him is justice," Rush said. "It would mean the end of this madness."
"No mother, no parent should ever bury their child," she said to DPD in a YouTube video, "he was my only child, I'll never have another one again."
She also spoke directly to the person responsible.
"Do the right thing," she said. "How do you live with yourself each night knowing that you took somebody from their family? It's not right. Come forward, do the right thing and let Ivory and his family rest."
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If you have information about this crime, you can report it anonymously through Metro Denver Crime Stoppers by calling 720-913-7867 or visit the Metro Denver Crime Stoppers website.
This is one of the largest special rewards available through Metro Denver Crime Stoppers. Just two rewards are larger.
They include a $55,000 reward for information about the killing of marine Travis Mason in Aurora and a $100,000 reward for information about the August 2008 killing of Adams County prosecutor Dan May.
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