January 27, 2025 | By: Matthew Fiedler

This story is part of a collaborative project between Project: Cold Case and the University of North Florida’s Applied Journalism class.

Mark Stewart encompasses the evolution of man during the early 2000s: metal music, video games, and computer geeking. AC/DC and Metallica—Mortal Kombat and Tomb Raider—hard drives and Microsoft.

“Mark was an incredibly smart kid,” his mother Pauline said. “He could recite the names of dinosaurs at such an early age like a catalog and taught himself how to play the guitar.”

In November 2006, Sony released the PlayStation 3. The next year, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare would write the blueprint for modern video games. Mark never had the chance to enjoy the new generation of entertainment. On May 19, 2006, two men on their way to work found Mark shot to death along Old Dixie Highway in Titusville, Florida. He had been riding home from a friend’s house on a bike after midnight and was shot dead while his mother was sleeping alone at their home just a few blocks away. The dreary pitch-black darkness of midnight did not allow the neighbors to spot Mark’s body concealed beneath their bushes until sunrise. He spent his remaining strength desperately crawling to a safety which did not greet him. Mark was only 22.

Mark grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania, a place his mother said used to be nice, but now it is a rough area. He had been robbed twice alone at the convenience store before turning 11 years old.

Two times was enough for the Stewart family to pack up the bags. After moving to Florida, the Stewart family thought violence was past them. Enjoying the change of scenery in Titusville, Mark got his first guitar and taught himself how to play Stairway to Heaven and music from one of his favorite bands, Lamb of God.

Mark and his father had a good relationship. His father was a strict ex-Marine, and Mark respected him for that. However, shortly after Mark graduated from high school, his father died. This moment reshaped Mark’s world. He began to drink heavily, which upset his mother. It was around this time Mark’s ex-girlfriend began harassing him at his job as a doorman at the SunCruz Casino, eventually forcing the company to fire Mark. Mark confided in his mother about the toxic relationship, revealing to her a secret others would not be inclined to share with their mothers. This secret demonstrated how much Mark trusted his mother.

After the breakup, Mark realized he needed to get his life together and focus on the future. On a beautiful day with a bright blue sky, Mark took his mother, his sister, and a friend to a pond to go fishing. They did not have much success luring fish onto their bait, but Mark told his mother that, “he needed to get his head out of his ass,” and that he planned to go to Full Sail University to learn graphic design. Mark eventually earned his seamen’s license and would take on a job in that field.

“He told me that he had quit drinking,” Pauline said. “He had so much life ahead of him.”

Mark’s death left a permanent hole in the hearts of the Stewart family. When the police showed up at Pauline’s door, she didn’t believe it was Mark until they showed her his wallet. For over 18 years, the killer has been at large—no apparent suspects. Pauline kept her faith in the detectives and police for 17 years, but in 2024, her faith started dwindling.

“They stopped working on his case and swept it under the rug and didn’t tell me that they quit working on the case,” Pauline said. “Someone made a report, but the detectives didn’t follow up on it. They didn’t take prints off the bike because they said it was at a pawn shop, but it never went to that pawn shop. Get your butts back on the case.”

Pauline, who has moved to Hamburg, Pennsylvania, after the murder, makes it a special day to come to Florida at the end of every July. She always puts up flyers, but recently, someone has been tearing them down, which she complained about on her Facebook page.

Pauline wants to start a GoFundMe for Mark to raise the reward for information that could help solve the case. Shortly after the murder, Mark’s friends held a raffle to make it $7,000, but she hopes a greater amount could draw people forward.

Mark Stewart’s friends and family describe him as the type of person who would give the shirt off his back to someone who needed it. He had no enemies. Pauline clings to his high school pictures and keeps some of his ashes next to her bed. Every night she wishes he could be there with her. It makes her angry that the person who did this is still out there and could be killing other people. It changed the way she raised her daughter.

“Finding the answer is the most meaningful thing to me,” she said.

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Anyone with information on Mark’s case is asked to contact the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit at 321-633-8413. To remain anonymous and possibly be eligible for a reward, contact CRIMELINE at 800-423-8477.

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