On a late Saturday night in May 2022, 45-year-old Donovan Davy was walking to his mother’s home in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, while on the phone with his sister. The call ended suddenly after Davy’s sister heard his name called out and then heard him in distress. She found him on the ground with gunshot wounds to his neck and leg; he was taken to a hospital and died on May 29, 2022.

Surveillance footage showed a Nissan Maxima dropping off a man who approached Davy from behind and opened fire, then later picking the shooter up and fleeing. The vehicle was registered to Irene Brown. Investigators said they used surveillance video and cellphone data to link two acquaintances of the victim to the attack. On September 1, 2022, police charged Richard Barrett, 34, as the alleged gunman and Irene Brown, 31, as the alleged getaway driver; both faced second-degree murder charges, Barrett also faced a weapons charge, and both were held without bail.

What information might help explain why Davy, who had no criminal record and worked nearly two decades for the Transportation Security Administration, was targeted?