Chad Merrill was 25 and from York, Pennsylvania when he was shot and killed outside the Red Rose Restaurant & Lounge in Hellam Township on July 21, 2018 after an altercation. Surveillance footage showed Chad was shot in the chest by James Saylor, who had been kicked out of the bar earlier for using a racial slur against a friend of Chad’s.

The prosecution described the killing as absolutely senseless. During the trial James Saylor, also 25, was convicted of first-degree murder, ethnic intimidation, harassment, and reckless endangerment and received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Chad’s family spoke about their grief and the effect of his death on his young son, Layton; his mother Pearl Wise has also been involved with Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice.

What details do readers remember from that night or about Chad’s life in York?