Springfield shooting victim’s family seeks answers a year later

A Springfield family is asking the public to come forward with information to find their loved one’s killers.

Lacie Henry, 29, was shot and killed on Dec. 8, 2016 during a robbery. Two gunmen, one armed with a rifle and another with a handgun, burst into a duplex in the 1200 block of South Fountain Avenue.

READ MORE: Springfield Shooting: Home invasion leaves woman killed

The gunmen “gathered people up” and put them in the same room, Springfield Police Division Chief Steve Moody said at the time. The home and Henry were targeted, he said.

Henry was shot in the head and arm. She was found dead in her living room.

“My daughter was shot in front of her daughter, (a) 2-year-old daughter, and she begged, saying don’t do this in front of my daughter,” said Lori Baker, the victim’s mother.

She and other family members are still in disbelief that she is gone.

“How do you do that. So, a baby has lost her mommy. A mommy has lost her daughter. And here we are,” Baker said.

She hopes her family’s plea before the one-year anniversary of Henry’s death will spark something within someone to come forward with information. No arrests have been made to date.

In 2016, there were six homicides in the City of Springfield. Henry’s death remains the only one without an arrest, according to the Springfield Police Division. So far in 2017, there have been 12 homicides. Arrests have not been made in eight of those cases.

Capt. Michael Varner of the Springfield Police Division said despite no arrests made, Henry’s death is still an open case.

“The case is being actively investigated. It is not a cold case,” Varner said.

Baker said she wants to get gun violence under control in Springfield and elsewhere.

“Every life matters. It’s black, it’s white, it’s red, it’s orange. Every life maters,” Baker said. “Guns do not kill people. People kill people with guns.”

The family will hold a candlelight vigil in front of the Courtyard Marriott in Springfield on Friday at 5:30 p.m. They are inviting the community to come remember Henry.

Also, the family announced they will provide a reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the suspects.

If you have any information, you are asked to contact the Springfield Police Division at 937-324-7716.

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