MIRAMAR, Fla. – In 2001 Omorose Butler was expecting her first child, a baby boy.
She was a teen mother in her last year of high school, walking the stage at graduation nine months pregnant. Weeks later her son Mendell was born.
“He was a very intelligent boy, extremely intelligent,” Butler said, gripping old photos of Mendell.
He eventually became a big brother and a really smart kid. The teen had dreams of becoming an attorney and attending Florida State University.
In the summer of 2018, Mendell Butler turned 17. He spent his birthday celebrating with cake and his family. Less than 24 hours later, he was murdered outside his Miramar home.
“I look back over at my son and he looks completely lifeless,” Butler said as she vividly remembered the moments of panic she went through trying to help her son.
Mendell’s killer is still out there despite a $100,000 reward offered for tips.
“I would just like for them to do the right thing because I know they didn’t come out there with the intentions to kill my son,” Butler said.
Butler devotes time to volunteer groups combatting gun violence and created “Mendell’s rule” in Broward County. It will help add reward money to unsolved murdered children’s cases that meet the criteria.
Anyone with information about Butler’s case is urged to contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.