Family still desperate for answers one year after Garland father of 3 was murdered

GARLAND, Texas - One year ago, a father of three was killed outside his apartment while confronting a car burglar.

Garland police say they still have not tracked down the person responsible for killing Clifford Wicker Jr.

His grieving family has announced an extra incentive for anyone who has information leading to an arrest.

Wicker’s family has raised $30,000 in reward money.

That’s in addition to the $5,000 already offered by Crime Stoppers for information leading to an arrest and indictment.

“It’s been really hard,” Clifford’s widow, Alysia Wicker, said.

Zoey Wicker, 6, Clifford Wicker III, 5, and 2-year-old Riley have been asking where their father is for the past year.

“It’s hard when your grandkids come up to you and ask, ‘Where’s dad?’ You have to tell them he’s in heaven,” Clifford’s mother, Penny, said.

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On January 30, 2019, Clifford was shot and killed at the Pecan Knoll Apartments in Garland.

“Someone came to his door and said, ‘Hey, someone’s breaking into your car,” said Garland PD Lt. Pedro Barineau.

The plumber ran out of his apartment to confront a car burglar.

Police said that during the confrontation, he was shot.

A year after the fatal shooting, an arrest has not been made.

“Wicker did nothing wrong. He did what most people would want to do in that situation,” Barineau said.

“You have to live with this guilt,” Clifford’s widow, Alysia, added.

Garland police do have some persons of interest in mind, but won’t reveal any more information.

The department is still waiting on DNA results from evidence collected at the scene that could identify the killer. Typically those results are back in about six months but sometimes it takes as long as two years.

“Maybe somebody who was with them and is going to say, ‘You know what, it’s not worth it. I’m going to turn them in,’” Lt. Barineau said.

“If they did it to him they’ll do it to someone else’s son,” Clifford’s mother-in-law, Pamela Fussell, said.

“He took my baby. We miss our son every single day,” Clifford’s mom, Penny, said. “I can’t pick up the phone and talk to him anymore. I have to visit him at the cemetery now.”

In a way, family says Clifford lives on through his children.

“Each of them have them in him,” Alysia explained.

But they’re hoping a $35,000 incentive pushes someone who knows what happened to speak up.