In the spring of 2019, multiple gunshots on the 100 block of West Lafayette Avenue in Syracuse left 43-year-old Shondell Days critically wounded. He was privately transported to Upstate University Hospital on May 21 and died of his injuries on May 25, 2019; the death was later classified as a homicide.

The Syracuse Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division identified 42-year-old Ernest Johnson as the sole suspect and arrested him on May 31, 2019. Johnson was charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and held at the Onondaga County Justice Center as the case proceeded.

Prosecutors developed evidence pointing to a possible motive involving a woman linked to both men. Before that evidence was ruled on, Johnson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 20 years to life state prison sentence. If anyone knew Shondell Days or has information about the shooting, please share what can help the record.