On April 10, 2021, at about 12:45 a.m., 38-year-old Darnell Snell was shot inside the Wyandanch Convenience Store on Merritt Avenue while buying orange juice. Emergency crews took Snell to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, where he was pronounced dead. Surveillance video from the store recorded the shooting, which authorities described as a targeted attack. Snell lived in Brentwood and was reported to have been a family friend of the man who opened fire.

Investigators from the Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad arrested 24-year-old Brentwood resident Atiba Ward in connection with the killing. Ward had been out on bail at the time for a prior felony narcotics and weapons possession charge from October 2020. Ward’s trial began March 1, 2022; on March 15, 2022, a jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to 30 years to life for the murder of Darnell Snell.

If anyone recalls seeing activity near the convenience store that night or knew Snell and can help fill in details about his movements that evening, please share what is known.