Phoenix police looking to identify suspect who killed Navy veteran in 2014

This article originally appeared Dec. 30, 2019.

If you didn’t know Kevin Ore, after hearing this, you’ll wish you had.

The 35-year-old Navy veteran was the oldest of four kids. He was very close to his brother, Brendan, who described him as brave, strong and selfless.

“He was everything a big brother should be,” Brendan said.

Kevin was engaged and worked at Rum Runners Bar on Seventh Street, north of Northern Avenue.

Brendan said Kevin had a photographic memory and could take apart just about anything and fix it.

“He was a whiz at mechanics and math and liked to talk about construction and engineering,” Brendan said.

Kevin also loved soccer and the Boston Red Sox.

His story is a sad irony. While trying to donate a kidney to a close family friend, he discovered he had cancer. It was Stage 4 and quickly spread.

Still, while undergoing intensive treatment, Brendan said Kevin, who was engaged to marry, would fix dinner every night for all of them. He’d take food to any lost souls he may have seen wandering through the neighborhood each day.

Six months before his death, doctors told him he’d beat it. The cancer was gone.

Then on May 7, 2014, Kevin stayed late at his job to help a female co-worker close. He didn’t want her to be there by herself.

Phoenix Police Sgt. Darren Burch said Kevin was shot to death as he walked home. His body was found next to the road. Investigators have no suspects or motives.

Brendan said after surviving the toughest battle of his life, his brother was looking forward to new beginnings. The day after he was killed, Kevin received a letter from a community college offering him scholarships and grants to go back to school.

Learn more about this case here.