Leonardo Betancourt was a 13-year-old seventh grader at Seward Academy who was shot and killed on May 2, 2016, in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood. He was a passenger in a moving car around 6:34 p.m. when someone in a vehicle behind opened fire; a bullet struck him in the back after passing through the car seat. He was transported to Stroger Hospital and pronounced dead about an hour later.

Family described Leonardo as smart and lively with no gang affiliations and said he was an innocent victim, likely not the intended target. Investigators believed the car was targeted because of possible gang connections of one of the older passengers. A 26-year-old man, Robert Morales, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon after he reportedly implicated himself following an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound to the arm and was held on $2 million bond.

Does anyone who knew Leonardo or who was in that neighborhood that evening have information that could help clarify what happened?