In the early morning hours of August 2, 2022, a burst of gunfire in Albany’s West Hill neighborhood ended the life of 36-year-old Kareem Collier. The shooting occurred about 2:15 a.m. at a location off Central Avenue with a rear entrance on Sherman Street. First responders found Collier with a fatal gunshot wound to his torso; he was pronounced dead at the scene. Less than an hour earlier a separate nearby shooting had wounded five people; police initially looked into whether the two incidents were connected.

Months after the killing, authorities arrested 34-year-old Sadiem Wood in January 2023. A grand jury indicted him on multiple felonies, including second-degree murder, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and tampering with physical evidence, alleging he used a .380 handgun to shoot Collier and then tried to alter or destroy the weapon. Wood was already known to law enforcement because of a prior conviction for a 2009 killing for which he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

In March 2024 Wood pleaded guilty to reduced second-degree manslaughter, admitting he recklessly caused Collier’s death. A judge sentenced him on June 4, 2024, to an indeterminate term of 7½ to 15 years. Did anyone in the area see anything that night or have information about Collier’s last movements?