Who Murdered Noodle?

“My heart hurts every day. How could somebody do this?” she said. “I want the police to find whoever did this. He didn’t deserve that, no one does.”

Someone in Greenville, Mississippi- a small town sitting on the Mississippi Delta- knows who shot a teen multiple times before setting his body on fire on June 30, 2021. Yet, months later, the murder remains unsolved. With only 30,000 people living in the area, word gets around fast. The family hopes someone has enough heart to come forward with information about the murder.

Police Respond to Call

Police responded to a 911 call around 1 p.m. that day. Someone found a dead body lying on Amber Road, injured so badly, police couldn't identify his race, gender, or age. Nearly one month later on July 27, the Mississippi Crime Lab identified the body as 14-year-old Orenzo “Noodle” Dye.

Noodle had been shot numerous times in the head, buttocks, shoulders, torso, and arms as he attempted to flee the scene. After shooting Dye, his killers then set him afire, burning 94.5% of his body.

Noodle Spent the Night With His Aunt

The incident occurred while Noodle spent the night with his aunt. Noodle’s mother, Lisa, agreed to the sleepover, but told her son to stay in the house. He agreed. That conversation was the last she had with her son. The aunt agreed to check on him hourly throughout the night.

All was well until 5 a.m. when the aunt checked the bedroom and he was gone. The aunt stated she last checked on Noodle around 3 a.m. Lisa immediately called police to report her son missing.

Noodle Had a Premonition

Lisa told reporters that Noodle felt like something bad was going to happen to him. Days before the murder after the two attended church services, she said Noodle told her, “I just want to tell you I'm fighting a battle between God and the devil but I want to be on God’s side.” Lisa said Noodle had tears in his eyes when he said this to her.

Autopsy Confirms Identity

Though it took one month to learn the body was in fact Orenzo, Lisa said she pretty much knew it was her son. She hoped that Noodle would walk through the door but the July 27 autopsy results confirmed her worst fears. Lisa says she is heartbroken and cannot sleep at night.

Lisa told reporters that Noodle loved animals, especially horses, and looked forward to graduating from high school. He wanted to buy her a house and a car, she recalled.

“My heart hurts every day. How could somebody do this?” she said. “I want the police to find whoever did this. He didn’t deserve that, no one does.”

Do You Know What Happened to Noodle?

Please, anyone with information, call the Greenville Police Department at 662-378-1515 or call Crimestoppers at 662-378-8477. You can remain anonymous. You can also utilize the P3 Tips app on your phone to send information. Crimestoppers offers rewards of up to $1,000 for information leading to arrests.

You can also contact Criminal Matters privately and I will gladly pass on the information to the authorities.

My sincere condolences to this family.

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