Robert Hoard was 21 when he was shot to death on July 15, 1975, while taking out the trash at his home on Cincinnati Street in Dayton, Ohio. He was struck twice in the back; his killing was later linked to a series of racially motivated attacks in the area.

Authorities arrested Neal Bradley Long, known as the Midnight Slayer, shortly after Hoard’s death and charged him in Hoard’s murder. Long was subsequently connected to multiple other killings in the Dayton area, and the case became a major law enforcement effort involving local agencies and the FBI. The killings prompted all-night vigils and citizen patrols as the community reacted to the violence.

What does anyone remember about Robert Hoard, his life in Dayton, or the neighborhood around Cincinnati Street in 1975?