Robert Cotten, 35, was found dead in an alley in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood on July 4, 2014. He died of multiple gunshot wounds and the Chicago Police Department classified the case as a homicide. Initial investigators noted the area’s gang activity and considered mistaken identity or retaliatory violence as possible motives, though Cotten was not known to be affiliated with any gang.

The investigation collected forensic evidence and conducted numerous interviews, but progress was slow because there were no eyewitnesses willing to come forward. In 2017 police arrested 28-year-old Marcus Johnson after new evidence—reported to include DNA and ballistic matches linking a gun in Johnson’s possession to the shooting—tied him to the scene. Johnson was charged with first-degree murder and related offenses; his trial began in early 2018, witnesses and forensic experts were called, and a jury convicted him. He was sentenced to life without parole.

Does anyone have additional information about Cotten’s life in Englewood or about the events of that night that could shed light on what happened?