It was eight years ago Tuesday that Scott Corwin was gunned down at Bull and Gordon streets.
The 27-year-old Army captain and his girlfriend, Mindy Jo Lemore, were walking home from a night out. They had made it to Monterey Square when, at about 4 a.m., two gunshots were fired and Corwin fell fatally wounded.
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Lemore, according to earlier reports, was too traumatized to tell who fired those shots. A physician who lived nearby rushed outside to help Corwin until emergency responders arrived, but he later died at Memorial.
Scott’s father, 60-year-old Greg Corwin, usually makes it to Savannah on the anniversary of his son’s death to put the case back in the public eye. But after eight years and no answers, he’s discouraged.
“It seems my efforts don’t do any good anyway,” he said by telephone from Pittsburgh on Wednesday. “… There’s something terribly wrong with this case, and I can’t get to the bottom of it.”
Greg Corwin said he has gone to great lengths to find justice for his son — even hiring a private investigator — but feels stonewalled at every end.
Savannah-Chatham police Sgt. Robert Gavin, a detective in the department’s violent crimes division, said there is activity on the investigation, and that it does take time. He said it would be inappropriate to elaborate on specifics.
“The case is not cold while we are actively working a lead in the case,” Gavin said. “Information released can jeopardize what is in progress.”
Police spokesman Julian Miller said that even after such a long time, tips from the public could help break the case.
“We’re still trying to get information on it,” he said. “Anybody who knows anything, we need them to call Crimestoppers or Violent Crimes. Somebody may have seen something and didn’t think it was significant, but it might be significant to pull things together.”
He may not have been able to come to Monterey Square this year — his third grandchild had just been born in Chicago — but Greg Corwin said he’ll keep looking for answers “as long as I have a breath in me.”
Corwin said he hopes the people of Savannah remember his son for the person he was.
Scott graduated from West Point and served as a paratrooper in Kosovo. Then he got a master’s degree in engineering management, but instead of entering the private sector decided to stay in the Army. He was assigned to the 92nd Engineer Battalion at Fort Stewart and was due for deployment to Iraq before he was murdered five years to the day after he graduated West Point.
Scott loved Savannah, his father said, living off Monterey Square near where he was shot, and helping those around him.
“Savannah lost a son, too,” Corwin said. “… Scotty was a kid of Savannah, too. He was a citizen and served everyone there whether they know it or not.”
He said he wished the residents of Savannah had the chance to get to know Scott as people did in the soldier’s hometown of Darien, Ill. Scott was buried there with full military honors. In November, his high school, Hinsdale South, inducted the slain Army officer into its hall of fame.
Greg Corwin said the students gathered in the gym were loud — chatting excitedly because they were out of class — until Scott’s sister Allison took the microphone.
“When Scotty’s sister came up and gave the speech, you heard a pin drop in that place,” he said, choking up. “That was quite a day for us. That will be there long after we’re gone.” A cash reward of as much as $15,000 is available anonymously through Crimestoppers for information leading to an arrest in the case. Catherine Neal of Crimestoppers said that the organization normally pays as much as $2,500, but Scott’s family and friends pledged the additional money.
Greg Corwin said he hopes the right person will still come forward and help break the case.
“Somebody’s been walking around for eight years with the freedom Scotty fought for, and that shouldn’t happen,” he said. “That’s the kicker.”
Police are asking anyone with any information on the killing of Scott Corwin to call Crimestoppers at 912-234-2020 or text CRIMES (274637) and include “cstop2020” in the body type along with the tip. People may also go to savannahchathamcrimestoppers.org. Tipsters remain anonymous, and award money given for information leading to an arrest is delivered anonymously as well.
