Family Pleads for Clues in Memorial Day Murders

On May 25, 2015, Joel Branch Jr. and Gerald Morris were shot and killed on Branch's patio in a murder case that still lacks leads

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It’s been five months since gunmen killed two men and wounded a third in Valencia Park, but the unsolved murder case is at a standstill. The family of one of the victims, Joel Branch Jr., is pleading for leads and answers. NBC 7’s Dave Summers reports.

It’s been five months since unknown gunmen killed two men – including a beloved father of seven – in a Memorial Day shooting in San Diego’s Valencia Park community, and family members are desperate for answers.

To date, no arrests have been made in the May 25 shooting that left Joel Branch Jr., 47, dead, along with his longtime friend, Gerald Morris, 48.

According to investigators, the victims had gathered with neighborhood friends for an NBC playoff party and were hanging out on Branch’s patio when two men walked up to the group and fired those fatal shots.

Months later, Branch’s family is pleading for clues, trying to get closure from the tragedy. As of right now, there is no motive in the murders, no leads on possible suspects.

This includes one of Branch’s seven children, his eldest son, also named Joel Branch Jr., who is really missing his father and everything he was to their family.

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“He always showed commitment; he was always there for you,” Joel told NBC 7 Friday. “That is the thing we miss about my father the most. He was always there when you called for him.”

Branch, who went by the nickname “Junior,” was thought of as a real hero in his Valencia Park neighborhood after he not only pulled himself out of a life of crime and poverty, but started a hauling business that helped others do the same.

To his children, sisters and community, Branch and his business provided encouragement in a rough neighborhood at Groveland Drive near 54th street.

“His friendship, his love and smile – his laugh. He was just a giving person,” the victim’s sister, Johnnie Branch-Durham, explained.

She told NBC 7 she’s baffled by the murder of her brother and doesn’t know why anyone would want to hurt him.

“We don't know who did this. Who would do such a thing? If they are people that we know people that we don't know,” Branch-Durham said.

According to police, a third man was shot that day about a block away from Branch’s home by the same suspects that killed Branch and Morris. That victim survived. He ducked during the shooting, so he did not see the gunmen.

Sources close to the case said investigators found DNA evidence on a shell casing left behind. Thus far, it is perhaps the only break in the case.

Branch’s family is now asking for the public’s help in tracking down any information that could lead to an arrest before the murder case turns even colder.

“Any lead. Any small lead, any small detail. Our family wants closure,” Branch-Durham begged.
Just as Branch stood as a symbol of hope for many people, his family is holding out hope that the men who killed him will be caught and brought to justice.

Unfortunately, the family said violence in the Valencia Park community has not stopped since the Memorial Day killings. In the months that have followed, four other people have been shot and killed in the same neighborhood.
 

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