At the beginning of January, the family of Jason Marous returned to South Florida to feel closer to him. It had been two years since he was murdered in his car in Fort Lauderdale, and they were determined to visit his favorite places.
And, to remind the public that his killer is still at large.
“As a mom, I know finding [the killer] isn’t going to solve anything, in fact I think someday I'll be able to forgive him because I don’t think he meant it,” says Debbie Lawrence, Marous’ mother. “But I need help to get this solved so I can move on a little bit more from Florida. I still haven’t got help; I still haven’t focused on that yet. I’m like anxiety ridden.”
Marous was shot to death in the early morning hours of Jan. 6, 2023 — he had just turned 36. He was in a secret five-month relationship with a married man, according to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, and the boyfriend told police they were going to meet up at Eagle in Wilton Manors.
However, by 1:30 in the morning, Marous never showed up and was not responding to calls or texts. At around 3:45 a.m. the boyfriend called a Lyft to go to Marous’ apartment in Middle River Terrace and used a hidden key to go inside and saw that no one was home. When he went outside to the parking lot, a neighbor pointed at Marous’ red Ford Edge, believing that he was asleep at the wheel.
When the boyfriend investigated, though, he saw that Marous had a wound to his neck and was bleeding — police pronounced him dead at the scene as a result of a gunshot wound. The boyfriend called a local friend as well as a friend in Ohio, where Marous was originally from, who had to deliver the bad news to the family.
Marous moved to Fort Lauderdale in April 2014; he had recently come out to his family and felt embraced by the LGBTQ-friendly community. His Facebook was filled with photos of him working on his garden, the horizon over the beach, and other outdoor activities. For the two-year anniversary, Lawrence was joined by her niece and other family and friends to visit Marous’ old stomping grounds, like Tulio’s, Butterfly World, Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, and to watch the sunrise on the beach.
Back at home, Lawrence has found comfort in meeting advocates for the missing and murdered. In October, she attended Purdue University’s Cold Case Symposium, an online seminar that highlights cold cases in different regions of the country and allows families to connect with others. During a slideshow, they included Marous’ photo.
“I met a couple of really nice people, and they're helping me connect and helping me sort of what to do,” Lawrence says.
This came a few weeks after she says detectives told her that the case was going cold. A representative from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department says detectives “continue to sort through any and all tips related to the case, but do not currently have any active investigative leads."
Lawrence says she wants the public to come forward if they have any information that could lead to an arrest in her son’s murder; Crime Stoppers and the family has a reward of up to $50,000 and a video of a person of interest who was walking in the area around the time of the shooting. The man is wearing a beanie, face mask, long-sleeve shirt and pants.
Last summer, Lawrence and Marous’ best friend came to Florida to retrieve their loved one’s things from the car; it had been released by the police. Being close to something he owned made her feel closer to her son.
“We got stuff out of it and I felt at peace; I felt this is the place my boy took his breath. … A lot of people think I’m crazy,” she says. “I didn’t look at the front where it happened, but it just didn't scare me. I didn’t feel anger, I felt my son was here alone, by himself.”
If you have any information regarding the murder of Jason Marous, contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477 or browardcrimestoppers.org.
