BUFFALO, N.Y. — May 13, 2022, will mark a somber anniversary for the family of Samantha Cothran.
Ten years ago, the Buffalo woman was killed at the age of 23, just a couple of days before she was to start her job as a pharmacist.
Cothran was one of two people shot outside of a house party on Minnesota Avenue in Buffalo during the wee hours of Mother's Day.
Her mother, Melissa Bosley, said it's been "hell." She counts the days since the tragedy, and on what would have been Sam's 33 birthday, she said "it's been 5,349 days."
A decade later, no one has been arrested, and there are no person or persons of interest in this case.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia told 2 On Your Side's Claudine Ewing, "There have been no new leads or developments in the case. No case is over when you're talking about murder. We know that there are people out there that saw something heard something, know something."
"There were between 100 to 150 people, we're told, that were at a party, and there were numerous witnesses at the time that were cooperative, but witnesses who didn't see anything and couldn't give us information on the shooter."
Gramaglia thinks keeping this case public will hopefully help.
"It's been 10 years," he said. "Life circumstances change. For some people, maybe they're not involved in some things now that they might have been. We ask those individuals to come forward."
"The tough part is that we follow every lead to wherever it takes us and when the lead stops, there's nothing more to follow up on at that point. Sometimes it is a waiting game for someone to come forward, and sometimes by way of another case somebody might give us information that reinvigorates a case."
Gramaglia added: "It's the sad truth of homicide cases, especially when they become cold cases. If there's nothing new to follow up on, there's nothing new to follow up on, but at any time a case can go active very quickly, and all it takes is one person. All it takes is one piece of evidence. It just takes one thing and we can jump back on it."
Sam's sisters will hold a party to celebrate her life on Friday, but they want someone held responsible.
"Ten years Friday. Something's got to be done, something has to change. We just want closure, that's it. It's not a lot to ask for, but I feel like after a decade, we need it," Alexis Cothran said.
Samantha graduated from Fisk University. She was a member of the 2007 Nardin Academy graduating class.
There is a scholarship in honor of of Samantha Cothran: The Samantha Cothran '07 Endowed Scholarship. According to the school's website, it is given to a junior who explores intellectual curiosity and exemplifies excellence in the classroom.
To Sam's killer, her sister has this message, "You had 10 years to walk, breathe, talk, be amongst your loved ones, and we had 10 years of emptiness."