Brandon Vails, a 28-year-old Black man, was killed the evening of March 5, 2020, inside the lobby of his apartment building at 78 East 127th Street near Park Avenue in Harlem/East Harlem. Police responding to a 911 call arrived just after 6:30 p.m. and found him with a gunshot wound to the torso; EMS took him to Harlem Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Early reports gave no public motive and no suspect description.

About two weeks after the shooting, police arrested 41-year-old Raynard Stapleton, who lived in the same building, and charged him with murder and criminal weapons possession. Stapleton appeared in court on March 20, 2020, and the case continued through the criminal courts. An appellate motion order dated May 9, 2024, notes an appeal was taken from a judgment rendered on or about May 18, 2023; a separate Appellate Division decision dated August 15, 2024, denied Stapleton’s request for release or bail pending the appeal.

Did anyone in the neighborhood see or hear anything in the lobby on the night of March 5, 2020?