After five years of continually praying for justice, the Harris family still has many questions unanswered.

Since the murder of their son DeLange Tawon Harris, 25, the Harris family has annually gathered with friends and family in the cemetery of New Hope (Valley) Missionary Baptist Church to host a prayer vigil.

“I hope this is the last year we have to do this prayer vigil for justice, because my son won’t be home here. I’ll meet him at home in Heaven, but we want justice here,” said Dora Harris, mother to DeLange.

On the afternoon of May 3, 2011, just before 4:30 p.m. deputies responded to Athens Church Road, where the body of DeLange Harris was discovered lying in a ditch beside the road by passersby.

The case was investigated in 2011 by the Crenshaw County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the state, and though leads were tracked and a number of interviews were conducted, no arrest was made. Currently there is a $15,000 reward offered for  information leading  to the  arrest and conviction of the murderer.

According to the Harris family, the case of DeLange’s murder will not be considered a cold case, “Until hell freezes over.”

Crenshaw County Sheriff Mickey Powell has worked on this case since taking office, and is saddened to see that still no new critical information has come to light.

“There’s not a week that goes by that we’re not doing something on that case. There’s nothing I would enjoy more than locking the person responsible for this up,” Powell said.

“People call it a cold case but we’re not because we’re working on it constantly. We’re checking all of our resources and making sure we don’t leave anything out.”

The Sheriff’s Office continues to work with the Attorney General’s office daily in hopes that the Harris family will soon find the answers they seek.

“I just want to reach out to all of my son’s friends and acquaintances to help us find his killer. Come stand with us and pray, just stand in the midst of us and pray for justice,” Dora Harris said.

“Or if you can just stop and say a prayer at that time, whether you’re there or not. We just want your prayers.”

The annual prayer vigil will be held Saturday, May 7, at noon in the cemetery of New Hope (Valley) Missionary Baptist Church. All are welcome to attend.