Family of slain Valencia College student pleads for help finding killer

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The family of a man robbed and gunned down in cold blood is seeking the public's help in finding the person who killed their son.

Michael Ault was 21 years old.

He was finishing up his studies at Valencia College and working part time as a reading tutor at a local elementary school.

His mother Jennifer said he was gifted, kind, and didn't have a violent bone in his body.

"They say bad things happen to good people, and why my son? I don't know," Jennifer said.

Deputies said Eduardo Viteri-Perez lured Ault and a friend to a vacant house before he was robbed, then shot earlier this September.

Last week, detectives announced a reward and pleaded for the public's help finding Viteri-Perez and possible accomplices.

With their own money, Ault's family increased the award to $10,000.

"Hopefully somebody will see something and say something," said Joe, the victim's stepfather.

"My son will never come back, but what we can do is make sure they don't do this to another family," Jennifer said.

His mother showed a last picture she took of her son alive at Ault's birthday party just two weeks before his murder.

"Wish I had taken more but he's smiling and he's with family, so that's how I'll remember my last time with him," Ault's mother said.

WFTV