When people ask Vera Frazier about how her only son died, she simply answers, “I don’t know.”

People who question her can’t believe her response. All she knows is that her son, Edward Dawayne Gooch, 30, died Valentine’s Day 2011 at his home off East Jefferson Pike.

“I just want to find out what happened,” Frazier said as her voice cracked with emotion. “I’ve gone through one year without knowing. I need some answers. I need a piece of mind.”

Detective Ralph Mayercik of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s office, who has investigated Gooch’s death for almost a year, would also like some pertinent answers to questions related to his death. 

Rutherford County Crime Stoppers is offering a reward up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of the suspect or suspects who may be responsible for Gooch’s death. People who have information may call Crime Stoppers at 893-7867 (STOP) between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Callers are anonymous.

Deputies learned of Gooch’s death at 4:22 a.m. Feb. 14, 2011 when his girlfriend, Sherita Michelle Thompson of Watertown, reported she was awakened by the sound of someone shouting and making demands of her boyfriend at his home. 

“There was some dialogue between the suspect or suspects and her boyfriend,” Mayercik said. “She said she cowered in the corner of the bed. They told her not to look or they would shoot her. She said she didn’t see anything.”

After waiting about 15 minutes, Thompson reported she felt like the intruders left.

“She got out of the bed and found her boyfriend at the foot of the bed face down and bound and she said she untied him,” Mayercik said. “She noticed the house had been ransacked and ran to the neighbors’ to have them call 911.”

Mayercik interviewed Thompson as part of his investigation.

“Ms. Thompson was unsure who the alleged suspects were and could not offer any clue as to their identity,” Mayercik said. “I’m looking for any information about the home invasion or the circumstances at the home that night.”

Mayercik also interviewed people who knew Gooch and his relationship with Thompson.

He asked people who have information about Gooch’s death to contact him at 904-3044 or call Crime Stoppers at 893-7867. 

Frazier said Gooch’s death was especially difficult for her because her mother, Mary Gooch, died in the same house 18 months before her son died. Frazier is married and has an adult daughter, Chatika Price, and two granddaughters.

Price said Gooch’s nieces miss him and “still talk about Uncle Wayne almost daily.”

Frazier said her son’s death has been very difficult. 

“He was everything to me,” his mother said. “He was a happy person who loved his family dearly.”

Gooch attended Oakland High School. He worked at the Sharpie pen plant in Shelbyville.

“Basketball was his most important thing,” Frazier said, describing how her son loved the sport. He tore his rotator cuff and built his arm back up so he could resume playing his favorite sport. He also loved playing video games, watching football games and helping other people.

Frazier and Gooch attended church together and talked daily. When she hears a phone ring, she expects to talk to her son. They last spoke the night of Feb. 13 when he offered his mother the Girl Scout cookies he ordered.

“He was fine,” Frazier remembered. “He didn’t have any issues. He was a happy person.” 

She just wants to find out what happened to her son after one year of not knowing.

“I need some answers,” Frazier pleaded tearfully. “I need a piece of mind.”

She asked people who have information to call Crime Stoppers because the family needs closure from Gooch’s tragic and unexpected death.

Instead of replying, “I don’t know” how Gooch died, Frazier hopes she can answer the questions about her son’s death.