Father offers $1,000 reward to find assailant in son's fatal shooting

David Combs is offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who can identify the shooter in his son's murder.

Quinton David Combs, 24, of Cape Girardeau was shot and killed about 2 a.m. Nov. 15 in the 500 block of South Frederick Street. Police told the Combs family there may have been as many as 60 people in the area at the time of the shooting, and they have interviewed witnesses multiple times but have no solid leads.

"Everybody goes to that spot. It's just a place they hang out at," David Combs said of the vacant lot across the street from where Quinton Combs' body was found. "A lot of his friends were there. Somebody has to know who pulled the trigger. They've interviewed people, and everybody is sticking to the same story."

Quinton Combs' funeral was at 1 p.m. Friday at LaCroix United Methodist Church, and his family still are trying to make sense of his death. David Combs is from Paris, Tennessee, but was a regular visitor to Cape Girardeau to see his son. He has no idea why anyone would want to hurt Quinton.

"He didn't have a whole lot of anger problems," David said. "Everybody liked him."

The last time David talked to Quinton was Nov. 14. Father and son talked several times each week, sometimes about work situations -- Quinton had worked in Sikeston, Missouri, for a company making tractor-trailer parts -- and sometimes about sports, both being big Los Angeles Lakers fans.

Aunt Dianne Travis-Teague said David and Quinton were especially close, although David and Quinton's mother, who lives in Cape Girardeau, are separated by divorce.

"I wish he would have let me know what he was into," David Combs said. "I begged him to go to trade school. I was hoping he would get married and settle down. They don't grow up as fast as we did."

Quinton Combs was the father of two young children, ages 2 and 3. David said the day before Quinton was shot, he had spent many hours playing with his children in the park.

"He was crazy about his children," Sedria Combs, Quinton's stepmother, said.

Although Quinton's children have a foundation of support in Cape Girardeau with their mother and Quinton's mother, David said he feels he must be a bigger part of his grandchildren's lives.

"I hate that it happened like it did," David said. "It made it a hard situation."

Saying goodbye to his son was the most difficult thing David Combs said he has done in his life. Part of the reason he is pleading for someone to come forward with information is so no other parents would have to feel what he's feeling.

"I'd hate for any parent to go through it," he said. "That's a phone call you hope you never get in the middle of the night."

The Combs family also wants the shooter to come forward.

"We don't hate anyone," Sedria Combs said. "We're asking for prayers for the shooter and his family, also."

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

521 S. Frederick St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.