Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘Leaving someone to die on the road is an atrocity we can’t accept’
Deputies searching for teenage suspect in highway murder
A car ride turned deadly for Tyron Arthus last month when he was ordered out of a car, shot several times, and left for dead on the side of a Broward County highway.
Detectives are searching for Marcus Ramone Cooper Jr., a 17-year-old Miramar resident, and they’re asking for the public’s help. The killing happened about 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 8 in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 595 near Hiatus Road.
Deputies said they don’t know why Cooper made Arthus, a 24-year-old Lauderdale Lakes resident, get out of the car. They also don’t know how Cooper and Arthus knew each other.
The victim’s family asked the suspect to turn himself in Wednesday during a news conference at Broward Sheriff ’s Office headquarters in Fort Lauderdale.
“He was not a bad kid,” said Marie Arthus, Tyron’s mother. “For them to take my son’s life and gun him down, left him like a dog on the side of the road, that wasn’t fair. Nobody deserves this. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy, for anybody to go through this.”
Last month, the Florida Highway Patrol responded to a call of a person lying on the shoulder of I-595. Davie Fire Rescue pronounced Arthus dead at the scene. The Patrol asked the Sheriff ’s Office to help investigate.
About a dozen members of Arthus’ family attended Wednesday’s news conference. They said they don’t have hate in their hearts for the person responsible for the killing. They said they just want justice.
“He was loved,” said Marie Civil, one of the victim’s aunts. “He’s missed.”
Sheriff Gregory Tony, who called the crime a “horrific murder,” vowed his agency won’t rest until Cooper is located.
“Leaving someone to die on the road is an atrocity we can’t accept,” he said.
Arthus’ mother, fighting through tears, told the suspect she’d pray on his behalf.
“Nobody has an answer why you took his life the way you did,” she said. “He got out and you just shot him. Several times. I’m going to pray to God.
“You took him, but you cannot take his soul. I’m going to pray for you.”
Deputies are asking anyone with information about Cooper, who they consider armed and dangerous, to call 911, homicide detective Wilson DeJesus at 954-321-4289, or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477).