The perpetrator behind the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Marvin Lewis O’Hara five years ago has yet to be found despite years of investigation, dozens of interviews and numerous agencies on the case. Live Oak Chief of Police Buddy Williams believes the reason lies in a lack of communication between the community and law enforcement.

On Friday, March 26, 2010, O’Hara was found with a single gunshot wound in an apartment at 813 Hillman Ave. in Live Oak at around 11 p.m. He died in a hospital the following day.

Later that year, police identified a possible suspect, John Charles Ware, who witnesses claim had disposed of a 9MM Hi Point semiautomatic pistol in a local retention pond. Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) lab results matched the gun to evidence recovered from the crime scene. Ware, who was O’Hara’s roommate, was charged with tampering with evidence. Investigators could not link Ware to the actual shooting, according to police reports from 2010.

Williams said O’Hara’s death remains an ongoing multi-panel investigation by LOPD, the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office and FDLE. Since the shooting, LOPD has identified at least six persons of interest and conducted 20 to 25 interviews, Williams said. Williams said investigators even launched phone taps on persons of interest, which never panned out.

“We just can’t piece it together,” he remarked.

Last year, LOPD launched an investigation into O’Hara’s death with FDLE using different methods and examining evidence from different viewpoints, according to Williams. Their efforts didn’t get them very far, Williams said, but he believes the biggest help investigators can get now is information.

“We need people to communicate,” said Williams. “Our job as law enforcement officers can’t be done without information. Law enforcement and the community have to work together.”

Fear may have stopped some witnesses from coming forward after victims of a house fire believed they were targeted because they knew too much about the shooting. The fire occurred in April 2010 at 950 Smith St. in Live Oak. One resident stated she found a letter on her door before the fire that read: “Wanna know…You b****es are gonna pay.”

Williams said it remains unknown whether or not the fire and O’Hara’s death are connected. He encourages anyone with information on the shooting or the fire to come forward and reminds witnesses they can remain anonymous through Crime Stoppers of Suwannee County, Inc. Crime Stoppers is offering up to $20,000 for any information leading up the arrest and conviction of the person or people behind O’Hara’s death and/or the suspicious residential fire. If you have relevant information and wish to remain anonymous, you can call Crime Stoppers at 386-208-8477 (TIPS). You can also call the Live Oak Police Department at 386-362-7463.

“With the amount of people around here, there has to be somebody who heard or saw or knows what happened,” Williams said.