'I will get justice': How a deck of cards may help solve South Florida cold cases

Young lives lost in drive-by shootings

Two of the Broward County cases included in the deck are believed to be drive-by shootings that claimed young lives. Mendell Butler-Lebel was killed a day after his 17th birthday. Tarrance Geter was killed one day before his 21st.

On. Oct 23, 2020, a shooter fired into a pick-up truck near the intersection of Nob Hill Road and Northwest 44th Street in Sunrise, killing 20-year-old Geter, who was riding in the passenger seat. He is featured on the king of diamonds.

The driver of the truck Geter was in unintentionally cut off another driver, and when the two cars reached Northwest 44th Street, bullets flew, police previously said. Geter was shot in the head.

Geter’s co-worker was driving them home from work that night when the shooting happened and drove to a nearby 7-Eleven to get help. Sunrise Fire Rescue took Geter to Broward Health Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Sunrise Police released photos of the shooter’s truck years ago. Officer Megan Santana said in an email this week that “no further information has come to light” in Geter’s case.

Chiquita Moore, Geter’s mother, told the Sun Sentinel that she has no more answers or information than she did four years ago. The years without progress in solving her son’s murder have “mentally drained” her, she said, and she’s grappling with anxiety and depression.

Moore described her son as a “sweet and humble kid” and a homebody who loved to joke. She got her son his first job where she worked, at Phoenix Package Logistics LLC in Sunrise. She remembered at first he was reluctant but eventually grew to like the financial independence it gave him and had a goal to get a job making more money in the future, she said.

“He said, ‘I want to start taking care of you now.’ My son never got that chance. He never got the chance. He was shot hours before his 21st birthday,” Moore said.

Of the deck of cards including her son’s murder, Moore said: “I have strong faith that something soon will happen. I will get justice or some answers.”

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