Melvin DeJesus Jr. was 17 when he was fatally shot in the parking lot of the Metro Mart on Manhattan Boulevard in Harvey on Christmas night. He had been standing and talking with an unknown male around 8:18 p.m. when gunfire erupted. DeJesus was taken to a hospital but died of his wounds.

Public materials consistently describe the other person present only as an unknown male. Some online listings give the death year as 1998, but Crime Stoppers’ case listing and reward flyer record the date as December 25, 1996, with the same location and circumstances. No arrests, publicly named suspects, charges, trials, or convictions are identified in the case materials, and the investigation remains listed as an open homicide with a cash reward for information leading to an arrest and indictment.

Did anyone witness the shooting outside the Metro Mart or hear information afterward that could help identify the unknown male who was with Melvin?