On the night of August 7, 2021, 17-year-old Xavier Wilson was fatally shot near the intersection of Union Avenue and East 165th Street in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, just about one block from his home in the Forest Houses on East 165th Street. Officers from the NYPD 42nd Precinct responded to a ShotSpotter activation at approximately 11:56 p.m.; Wilson was found with two gunshot wounds to his torso and was pronounced dead at Lincoln Hospital.

Surveillance footage obtained during the investigation reportedly showed Wilson embracing someone he knew shortly before the shooting. A family member said Wilson and the other teen had been close, had spent time together, and that Wilson had stayed overnight at the other teen’s home on multiple occasions. Authorities arrested 17-year-old Jose Gutierrez on August 12, 2021; he was charged with murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon, pleaded not guilty, and was initially held without bail. The family suggested gang-related pressure might have been a motive, though investigators did not publicly confirm that theory.

Does anyone have information about Wilson’s last movements or the people he spent time with that night?