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Reward increased to find home intruders who killed man in front of niece, nephew

BUTTS COUNTY, Ga. — A reward for information in a deadly home invasion has increased to $15,000 as deputies hope for new leads in the cold case.

Derrick Denson was watching his niece and nephew on Jan. 2 when deputies say three masked men forced their way into his Butts County home.

The trio robbed him before they shot Denson in the head in front of the children. He died the next day.

Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes has been following the case since the Denson family contacted her in January.

Deputies had several leads when the home invasion and shooting first happened, but said none of them were solid. No arrests have been made in the 10 months since Denson's death.

"We always want to work these cases as good as we can but (we have) limited info coming in and no help from the public," Capt. Richard Gandee said.

The department believe the suspects knew Denson and targeted him specially at his home. Gandee said it may have been a robbery that didn't go as planned.

"Maybe they didn't mean to pull the trigger. But that's some of the questions we need to clarify. So if someone does know this info just call us. The family needs to know," he said.

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The Denson family doesn't want Derrick's death to turn into a cold case, especially when they are so desperate for answers.

"It happened in my sister-in-law's house and she's having a really hard time with it. She can't afford to move and her special needs daughter was in the room. My nephew, it's really hard on him too," Tammy Denson said.

Tammy Denson said Jackson is a small community and with a family as big as hers, they know everyone.

The family feels like several people know what happened and they're hoping anyone will come forward.

"You never know if you're promised tomorrow. Do you really want to die or something happen to you and you knew the truth and didn't tell it?" she said.

Anyone with information can call Crimestoppers and remain anonymous.