Press Releases

Danielle Blackburn murder
November 21, 2009

A young mother is killed in her home, and police say she knew her attacker. The man who police suspect in the killing is sitting in jail this weekend on other charges, but unless someone can come forward with information to link him to the killing, a young man may get away with murder.

Danielle Blackburn was the picture of strength at its finest – a single mother battling Multiple Sclerosis, yet still finding ways to brighten the lives of her friends and family. But all that changed in February – when Danielle was murdered in her Fort Myers apartment, while her six year old slept in the next room.

"She knows mommy’s in heaven – she’ll tell you she playing with the angels and Jesus," said her father, Don Blackburn.

Blackburn will never forget the call from EMS the morning Danielle was killed.

“They told me, can you come over here, there’s been an incident and Danielle has passed away," he said.

When detectives first arrived on the scene, it wasn’t clear that Danielle had been murdered. Given her health problems, it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to think the MS had taken its toll.

But things just didn’t add up, and Danielle’s case was treated as a suspicious death. Not long after, an autopsy confirmed that it wasn’t MS that took this young woman’s life – it was murder.

“We feel that the person who committed this homicide knew the victim – and knew the victim well," said Sgt. Pete Tarman of the Fort Myers Police Department.

Circumstances surrounding Danielle Blackburn’s death lead detectives to believe that her murder wasn’t random.

And while they do have a circle of people considered persons of interest, they need the public’s help piecing the puzzle together, and finding the person whose brutal actions will keep a little girl from growing up with her mom at her side.

“We feel there are only a few people who really know what happened that day, and obviously one of them is our victim. Really right now, we haven’t received much information at all," Tarman said.

Danielle graduated high school in Fort Myers just four years ago, and had a lot of friends in her support system. And while many of those friends have come forward to assist, her dad feels there are others who can still help.

“We just feel like there’s somebody out there who can really point the finger," Blackburn said.

Detectives agree, and hope that an anonymous tip will help solve Danielle’s murder – and provide closure for her family, and most importantly, her daughter Marissa.

“To know that the person who did this to her mother has been arrested and he’s not going to hurt anyone else anymore," Tarman said.

Anyone with information on the murder of Danielle Blackburn, or any unsolved crime, is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS (8477). All callers will remain anonymous and will be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000 from Crime Stoppers, and $5,000 from the Fort Myers Police Department. Tips may also be made online at www.swflcrimestoppers.org