Family hopes reward system will help catch killer
Published 10:49 pm Thursday, June 18, 2015
The family of a Selma woman killed earlier this year is hoping the city’s proposed reward system might bring new information to light and bring her shooter to justice.
Taffine Berry was murdered near a pool hall between L.L. Anderson Avenue and Marie Foster Street March 14 and the search for her killer is still ongoing.
The Selma City Council has allocated $3,000 toward the reward fund, but the council is still waiting on city attorney Jimmy Nunn to put the finishing touches on the legal portion of the rewards system.
“The city council went on record based on my recommendation to set up a reward system,” Mayor George Evans said. “The most the municipal government can put up is $3,000 by law.” In time, Evans said he expects citizens to donate and make the fund even larger.
“We’ll be asking citizens at a later point to make donations to it and get it to grow,” he said. “I hope we can get it up to $20,000 and $50,000 through donations over a period of time. Somebody may step up and say something.”
Money might bring some people to speak on what they know about the shooting, said Berry’s sister Lashanda Smith.
“It’s a sad thing to say money will make some people talk,” she said. “Some families here in Selma might need the money because a lot of people might not have jobs.”
Smith and Berry’s mother Delois Smith agrees with her daughter. She said you never know who might come forward with information.
“I think they should come forward with the truth,” she said. “Losing my daughter took a part of me. It’s painful. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I cry every day and night, until God heals me. I didn’t know how it felt to a person [who lost a child] until I got in their shoes.”
Crime Stoppers is also offering a $1,000 reward for any information regarding the case. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 877-3530 or the Selma Police Department.