James Edwin Melton Sr., 36, was shot while sitting in his truck outside a convenience store at Lee Street and Evergreen Street in Alexandria on the evening of February 23, 2017. Two men approached his vehicle intending to rob him; one produced a firearm and shot Melton in the head. He died the next day, February 24, 2017.

The Alexandria Police Department identified and arrested Eddie Ray Jackson Jr., who was charged initially with first-degree murder; the charge was later amended to second-degree murder and attempted armed robbery with a firearm. In April 2021 a Rapides Parish jury found Jackson guilty, and he received a life sentence for second-degree murder plus a consecutive sentence for the attempted armed-robbery firearm enhancement. Court documents say two men were involved but provide no widely reported details about the second individual or any separate proceedings.

Did anyone in the community know Melton or see activity near Lee and Evergreen that night who can fill in the gaps about the second man?