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Three years after son's Surrey murder, parents plead for help

At least a dozen people saw Steven Dodd shot in the head in 2009, police say.
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Steven Dodd

There were several people in the house in Surrey where Steven Dodd was shot in the head in February 2009.

But all of the witnesses fled the scene, and three years later, police have been unable to identify the killer.

Dodd was a drug addict who, according to his family, was sexually assaulted when he was 13 and lived with his secret for more than 10 years before telling his family about the assault. The person who assaulted him, his parents say, was the one who first introduced him to drugs.

"His drug use escalated and got out of control," said mom and dad John and Silvana Dodd in a statement released to media on Tuesday. "This was how he managed and dealt with the abuse he suffered as a young boy. The need to have the drugs got the better of him and he was eventually led by his addiction."

On Feb. 27, 2009, police say Steven, 27, went to a crack shack near 130 Street and 108 Avenue in North Surrey and was shot in the head. He remained on life support in hospital for a week before succumbing to his injuries.

John and Silvana Dodd were hoping to speak to reporters on Tuesday to ask for the public's assistance in solving their son's murder but were unable to as John was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer and told he may only have weeks to live.

The Dodds say Steven was not a gang member or drug dealer, but an addict in a fragile mental state. In spite of his drug use, they say, he never missed get-togethers and his loss has left the "close-knit" family shattered.

Steven Dodd as a child"We will never get to see Steven show his true potential that we all knew he had. We will never see him at his best again. His opportunity to become who we knew him to be and the family man that he wanted to become, was taken away from him."

In their prepared statement, the Dodds pleaded with potential witnesses to their son's killing to do the right thing.

"Anyone struggling like Steven was knows that murder is not warranted ... make the right choice and come forward with information that will lead us to who is responsible for taking our son from us. We never gave up on him and we ask that you help us stay true to that."

Police investigators echoed the call for public assistance.

“We know there were over a dozen people inside the crack shack at the time of Steven’s murder, many of them struggling with addiction themselves. Investigators are hopeful that witnesses may have made significant life changes and are in various stages of addiction recovery and in a better position, physically and mentally, to come forward with information that may assist investigators, “ says Sgt. Jennifer Pound, spokesperson for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT). “We want to ask those people to recognize how unfair and horrific this murder was and to come forward.”

Anyone who thinks they may have information about Steven Dodd's death is asked to call the IHIT tipline at 1-877-551-4448 or email ihittipline@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

If you wish to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or leave a tip at solvecrime.ca