Search for gunman who killed Florida Crossfit trainer continues nearly a decade later

A killer is still on the loose, nine years after a murder at a Winter Garden gym. The call came in just before 7 p.m. on August 12, 2013.

"Hello our athletic trainer just got shot in the head," the caller said. 

A gunman walked in and shot Richard Millsap, the owner of the Crossfit Mosaic in Winter Garden. It happened as he led a class of eight people. Police say Millsap was detailing the workout on a big chalkboard when it happened."

The subject walked around Richard to his right side, the subject said something, but people couldn’t tell us what it was," said Sgt. Dave Clark, "at which point Richard turned his head, and realized the subject was there… and he shot Richard multiple times in the head and the upper body."

Millsap’s parents in West Palm Beach got the unimaginable phone call soon after. "We got a call from our daughter, just hysterical saying that he’d been shot," said Millsap’s father, Norman Armstrong.

Those heartbroken parents raced to the gym. Investigators did, too. Sgt. Dave Clarke remembers getting to the scene that night. "It was very somber because I think everybody knew that well if you hadn’t been transported to the hospital, and all the people in the gym saw that he had been shot, that he’s not alive anymore," explained Sgt. Clarke.

Police released a sketch soon after. Witnesses described him as a short man, possibly under 5 feet, 5 inches tall, and wearing glasses and a dress shirt. Investigators say the killer got into the passenger side of a silver Chevrolet Impala. They had no luck tracking down the car, but they’re still trying to find the suspect. 

Nearly a decade of digging into the gym owner’s past has turned up some clues but no answers yet. "We did get some information in the beginning from some family and friends about there was an individual that there was a beef with years and years ago," said Sgt. Clarke, "and we’re still working that aspect."

Court records show Millsap was arrested on aggravated battery charges in 2011. 10 months before his murder, police say someone shot up his car. Police believe this was a hit. Millsap was the oldest of six children and left behind two young kids of his own.

"He was my oldest son, my firstborn, so yeah every moment of every day," says Debbie Norman who thinks about her son every day. "He was 6’6 or 6’7, and his personality was as big as he was tall."

His parents tell us they’re living with the heartache every single day."For me, it’s an undying torture even with my faith I just can't get past, that’s my son. You know, and you talk to people, and they seem to think time changes things, but it doesn’t," she said.

Police are now looking at using technology that will help them figure out who was in the parking lot on their cell phones at the time of the murder. Their hope is that it will lead them closer to the killer’s identity.