Eric Thomas, a 35-year-old musician, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of August 1, 2020, in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens. Thomas was about to leave his first-floor apartment at 22-27 Dix Avenue when a man who had just entered the building confronted him, pulled a handgun from his waistband, and shot him once in the chest. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

The assailant was later identified as 35-year-old Tyrell Dennis. Earlier that night Dennis had pointed a gun at a woman in the building’s mailroom and questioned her about the whereabouts of certain individuals. Another man was seen leaving Thomas’s apartment shortly before the shooting, leaving the door ajar. Dennis was located after a traffic stop by Pennsylvania state troopers in November 2020; he resisted arrest and initially used a false ID. Dennis was extradited to New York and charged with murder in the second degree, weapons counts, and menacing. Thomas’s family described him as having a heart of gold who worked to help others through his music and community efforts.

Did anyone in Far Rockaway know Eric or see anything that night?