On Easter morning 2014, 29-year-old Ryan Gray of Poughkeepsie was shot dead inside Murphy’s Restaurant & Pub in New Paltz shortly before 2 a.m. A 26-year-old woman who was on a date with Gray was also shot but survived and was reported in stable condition. Eyewitnesses said there was no apparent altercation before the shooting.

Police described the attack as not random, saying the shooter and the victims were known to each other and that the motive appeared tied to earlier incidents in the City of Poughkeepsie; authorities suggested the killing may have been retaliation for the November 2013 murder of Alvin Hayles in Poughkeepsie. The shooter fled the scene and a multi-agency investigation followed.

On the evening of April 22, police arrested 21-year-old Basheem D. Bennett of Poughkeepsie and charged him with second-degree murder and first-degree assault; he was remanded to Ulster County Jail. Ryan Gray’s mother, Lisa Gray, attended the press conference and said she was unaware of any connection between her son and the suspect.

Does anyone who knew Ryan or who was in Murphy’s that night have information to share?