Laron G. Watkins, 21, was fatally shot on the evening of August 4, 2016, in Buffalo, New York. He had just left his family’s home to walk a block to a party at Sperry Park when gunfire erupted five to seven minutes after he left. His father, Larry G. Watkins Jr., found Laron on the curb on Sherman Street; paramedics worked on him for twenty minutes before he was pronounced dead. Two other men were wounded in the same incident.

In the months after the killing the family pursued public appeals for information. On what would have been Laron’s 22nd birthday they released 1,100 balloons from the park, each carrying a flyer with his picture and the Buffalo police tip line. In March 2017 police arrested 18-year-old Jaylin Wiggins and charged him with murder and attempted murder in connection with the shootings. Wiggins was later tried and a jury convicted him of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, and criminal possession of a weapon; he received an indeterminate sentence of 50 years to life.

Did anyone see Laron the night he left home or notice anything unusual near Sperry Park that evening?