A New Year’s gathering in South Jamaica, Queens turned fatal in the early hours of January 1, 2014, when 22-year-old Julio Mora was shot during an altercation at a house party on 113th Avenue, between Sutphin Boulevard and 155th Street. Authorities were called about 1:15 a.m.; emergency responders pronounced Mora dead at the scene with a gunshot wound to the chest. The city medical examiner confirmed a gunshot caused the death after initial reports suggested a stabbing. This was the first homicide in the city that year.

The NYPD identified 26-year-old Sheldon Smith as a person of interest the day after the shooting; he was arrested in February 2014 and charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Mora, a Richmond Hill resident, had graduated from John Bowne High School and worked as a promoter. He was living with his sister’s family and was killed on the 19th anniversary of his mother’s death. Anyone with information about that night is asked to come forward.