MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – It has been about two years since Thaddeus “Sir Raynard” Biglow was killed. The fatal shooting in Miami Gardens remains a mystery.
The 29-year-old man’s family remembers his voice fondly. The former Performing and Visual Arts Center at Miami Northwestern Senior High School student loved gospel music. As the minister of music at Fresh Oil Family Worship Center, the soprano sang at baby showers, weddings and funerals.
Biglow’s mother, Ora Austin, lost her son on Valentine’s Day, hours after a shooter left 17 people dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
“Those that follow me on Facebook know that I had even posted a prayer for those that lost loved ones that day not knowing just some hours later that I would be suffering a loss as well,” said Austin, now an activist with Florida Parents of Murdered Children, a support group that focuses on advocacy.
Austin’s 2018 Facebook post: "Let’s bind forces together and pray for our children. We don’t know if they will come back to us at the end of the day.”
While Austin and the nation mourned the victims of the massacre, Biglow left his grandmother’s house in the area of Northwest 179th Street and 24th Avenue with his friend E’zacceus Jackson and he never came back.
When Jackson returned to Biglow’s home without him, he told his family two males had followed them, and they ran and parted ways when one of them started shooting. Police officers found Biglow dead about 2 a.m. just steps away from his home. He had been shot once in the back.
Surveillance video shows Biglow and Jackson went to a convenience store at the Ocean Gas Station at 2210 NW 183rd St. It also shows a man -- who is about 150 pounds and 5-foot-8 to 10 inches tall --- and was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants.
Detectives believe the Ocean Gas Station shopper is a suspect in the fatal shooting.
“Anyone out there who knows anything, don’t be afraid to come forward,” Austin said.
Austin and Miami Gardens police detectives are asking anyone with information about the fatal shooting to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.