Stephen C. Phelps-Martans was 37 when he was shot on the afternoon of October 23, 2020, on Westcott Street in Syracuse. He was taken to Upstate University Hospital and pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Friends and family remember him as a kind, spirited musician and drummer who loved art and looked out for those close to him.

Syracuse Police treated the death as a homicide, interviewed witnesses and collected evidence at the scene, and identified a suspect quickly. On October 24, 2020, a 17-year-old male was arrested in the 2200 block of East Fayette Street and charged with murder in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and attempted robbery in the first degree in connection with Phelps-Martans’s death. The suspect was also charged in an unrelated September 15, 2020 incident with assault in the first degree, robbery in the first degree, grand larceny in the fourth degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.

If anyone knew Stephen or has information about the shooting, please come forward.