Prayer service held 2 years after couple's murder, still no leads in case

It’s been two years but still no arrests in the murders of a Central Florida couple found shot to death in their home.

“For every birthday, every holiday, every celebration, there are two empty seats now. It’s hard to deal with that,” said Valerie Smith, the couple’s daughter.

Valerie Smith said her wedding day is the last time she saw her parents alive. A few days after she returned from her honeymoon, on April 26, 2013, James and Ann Marie Smith were found shot to death inside their home off Aein Road near UCF.

“At that moment it just felt like someone had taken a bat and just whacked me as hard as they could in the stomach, and all the breath just left my body. And still it’s sometimes hard to breathe,” said Smith.

Investigators with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office say Smith’s neighbors heard gunshots about six o’clock in the morning – about three hours before the couple was found. But no one called 911. 

And now two years later Smith says there are no leads in the case. She’s hoping someone will come forward with information that could help investigators solve the case, and give her family much wanted answers.

“Because the type of person that does something so horrific to two innocent people unarmed in their home, wearing their pajamas, there’s no telling what they might do. And so my fear is they might hurt someone else,” said Smith.

Smith said she has no idea why anyone would want to hurt her mom and dad. She said they were always helping others.

“The last words I remember him speaking to me before he walked me down the aisle were, that as long as you put God first in your life you will always be okay. And those were the type of people that my parents were. So for this to happen to them, is shocking,” said Smith.

Friends and family held a prayer service planned for Sunday evening in Orlando to mark the grim anniversary of the murders.

If you have any information on this case you can call Crimeline anonymously at 1-800-423-TIPS. Crimeline is offering a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to a conviction in the case.