On February 18, 2019, at about 2:44 a.m. a confrontation on Terrace Avenue in Hempstead, New York, left 28-year-old Matthew Gilreath dead from multiple gunshot wounds to the head, face, and chest. Gilreath was standing in a doorway when a brief argument with another man escalated into the shooting; he was later pronounced dead at Nassau University Medical Center.

Two men were arrested in connection with the killing. Thirty-five-year-old James Wilson of Brooklyn was identified as the shooter and was injured with a gunshot wound to the abdomen; he was arrested the same day. Thirty-one-year-old Raphael Carter of Hempstead was arrested two days later and accused of removing the handgun and hiding it in his apartment; the weapon was not recovered.

Charges included second-degree murder and weapons counts against Wilson and weapon possession, hindering prosecution, and tampering with physical evidence against Carter. Wilson’s defense during the proceedings asserted he acted in self-defense, saying Gilreath had attempted to rob him and fired first. Does anyone have information about Gilreath’s final hours or witnessed the Terrace Avenue confrontation?