COLUMBIA, S.C. — Five months ago 26-year-old Theron "Boukie" Woodard was shot and killed at the intersection of Parklane Road and O'Neil Court in Columbia and his mother and sister are still searching for answers in his death.
Paulette Johnson-Free, mother of Woodard, and her daughter TaQueisha Johnson told News 19 that they are looking for closure.
"I don't have closure," says Johnson-Free. "You know, the person that did this may be walking past my house every day."
On May 12, 2019, Woodard was in a car with another person outside of the Columbia Place Mall, when someone came behind the car and shot both Woodard and another passenger. The second person was wounded, but Woodard died because of the shooting.
Originally, Richland County investigators arrested 29-year-old Kendall Jamil Brice for murder and attempted murder. However, those charges were dropped.
Woodard's mother and sister say they are now back at square one.
"My son, he had friends that he was close with," says Johnson-Free. "The town that we're from, everybody knows everybody. Somebody knows something and I don't know if they're afraid to tell, they don't want to tell, but someone knows something."
"If you knew the pain that we feel on a daily basis, the tears that we cry, the text messages that we send that we never get a reply from," says Johnson. "That part of it people don't see. They don't see that I have to hug a teddy bear just to get some comfort from my brother who is no longer here and we don't know why. "
Richland County Sheriff's Department is still investigating, but they haven't released any information about another suspect. Until then Woodard's mother and sister are still searching for the truth.
"That one piece of information that's holding the whole puzzle together, bring it forward, just let it out," says Johnson-Free.
"I am my brother's keeper and it's been five months," says Johnson. "We still don't know nothing, but I'm going to continue to be his keeper even though he's not here."
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIMESC.