"Michael had a great sense of humor. Family was very important to Michael. He was very creative. He loved to decorate," said Diane Fox
.Diane Fox says she misses her son, Michael, every single day.
"He was the first person I talked to in the morning and usually the last person at night," she said.
The 30-year-old was studying to be a hairdresser and had recently returned to the sport of artistic roller-skating. But all that tragically ended on the night of June 20, 2012.
"Something terrible happened in that room," said Diane.
Diane says Michael had gone out that night and returned to his home on the 900 block of 8th Street in South Philadelphia with someone.
His two roommates worked overnights and came home to find Michael's bedroom door closed.
Diane says they didn't worry until about 11:00 p.m. the next night.
"When he tried to open up the bedroom door, he was unable to because Michael was lying there," she said.
When they were finally able to get inside at midnight on June 22nd, they found Michael beaten to death.
His cell phone was taken from the scene. Police recovered it a month later, but so far it has not produced any leads.
"I really think, we feel, that somebody else knows what happened, and we're hoping that by airing this, they will step forward," she said.
The Citizens Crime Commission is administering a $1,000 reward and the City of Philadelphia is posting up to $20,000 for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Citizens Crime Commission tipline at 215-546-TIPS.
"We don't want this to happen to anybody else. We don't want any other parent to go through this either," said Diane.
Calls are anonymous.
