On the evening of May 27, 2019, a Memorial Day cookout at Hillcrest Village Apartments in Niskayuna, New York, ended with 21-year-old Ayanna Hunter fatally shot and later pronounced dead at Ellis Hospital. Hunter, a former Albany High School basketball standout, was involved in a confrontation at the party and, according to the Schenectady County District Attorney, drew a handgun and fired at least one shot at 18-year-old Wayne Brown. Brown and 19-year-old Pierre D. Thompson both returned fire; Hunter was struck once in the side and died from that wound.

A Schenectady County grand jury heard testimony from 24 witnesses and reviewed 270 pieces of evidence, concluding Brown and Thompson acted in self-defense because Hunter fired first; no homicide charges were filed against them. Both men were nonetheless indicted on weapons and evidence-tampering charges. Angela Rondon, who attended the party with Hunter, was charged with reckless endangerment, weapon possession and tampering for hiding Hunter’s gun; she later pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless endangerment. Weeks after the shooting, on July 4, 2019, Hunter’s stepfather, Jason Sellie, shot Wayne Brown in the torso and was arrested and charged with attempted murder and other offenses.