Father's murder in Lincoln Park still unsolved nearly two decades later

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- On Aug. 16, 2006, 31-year-old Andre Mahan, a father of two and a custodian with the San Diego Unified School District, was fatally shot inside the family’s apartment at Creekside Villas in Lincoln Park.

Investigators have not identified a suspect or determined a motive in the case.

“It hurts like it happened today,” said his widow, Essie Mae Horne, who was home with their 18-month-old son and 7-year-old daughter when the shooting happened around 2:30 a.m.

Horne recalled hearing a loud noise that she thought was a car backfiring. Moments later, she said she saw a teenage boy standing in her doorway with a gun.

“There was a young light-skinned Black male, looked to be 13 or 14 years old, standing in my doorway facing me with his arm up — and he fired,” Horne said.

The bullet missed her but struck Mahan, who collapsed in the kitchen. Horne said her husband tried to speak as blood came from his mouth and nose, but he died within minutes.

Their daughter, Dominique, who was still a young child at the time, later wrote a poem about her grief. Horne said her son, who was too young to remember his father, still wonders who he was.

In the years since, Horne has launched a nonprofit called TWEEN-SWAG — which stands for "Together We Elevate Each Other in our Neighborhood Simply With A Lot of Grace" — to support families coping with gun violence.

She continues to hope someone will come forward with information about the killer.

“If anybody who came here August 16, 2006, to kill my husband and try to kill me, please say something,” she said.

Authorities said anyone with information about the case can contact San Diego County Crime Stoppers. A $1,000 reward is being offered.