ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Monday night marks one week after 14-year-old Denis Atkinson was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in Orange County last week.
Days later, deputies say 3-year-old Daquan Felix Jr. was also shot and killed in a drive-by shooting.
However, as of Monday night, no arrests have been made. Because of that, the Executive Director of the Central Florida Crimeline Barb Bergin is pleading for that one tip that can help solve either case.
As of right now, the reward for a tip that could solve either of the two cases is up to $20,000.
“It’s now time that we step up and do something about our children being hurt, it’s time to put an end to the violence that we are seeing,” Barb Bergin said in a video posted to Facebook Friday night.
Monday Bergin said the video did result in some tips.
“We have seen an increase in tips,” Bergin said Monday. “In a case like this, we will take smaller amounts of good tips, there won’t be hundreds of tips, but when it comes to it, every tip gets our attention and every tip goes out.”
Bergin spoke to News 6 to remind residents every tip to Crimeline, whether it is via text, online, phone, or through their own Crimeline app is completely anonymous.
“We don’t want your name, we don’t want your phone number, we don’t capture IP addresses, we do not trace, we do not record, we don’t have anything that would come back to you,” Bergin said.
Community activist and local Bishop Kelvin Cobaris said in many cases, the community doesn’t trust coming forward with tips or leads.
“Right now there is a big gap of distrust of the community and law enforcement. Secondly, you have a fear of the community of retaliation,” Bishop Cobaris said.
Bishop Cobaris said to help calm that fear he is hosting a community meeting Thursday night called ‘Enough is Enough’ at the New Life Church of God and Christ.
"Questions that come up for Crimeline is, ‘After I report this will the state later call me to be a witness?'’ he added.
Bergin said the answer is no. There is no way to trace back to the tipster instead through a number so if the tip leads to an arrest, it’s simply a lead and in almost all cases the tipster will never be identified.
“Our goal is to get that one person to come forward to give that one piece of the puzzle that helps detectives make an arrest,” Bergin said. “Whoever that person one person is, I don’t know.”
You can call Crimline at 1-800-423-TIPS, but you can also text, go online, and even submit your tip via the CrimeLine app. Click here for more information.