On the night of Thursday, September 1, 2022, 22-year-old Najeer T. Lane was pronounced dead just after midnight on the 1000 block of West Juniata Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Lehigh County Coroner’s Office ruled his death a homicide from a gunshot wound. Lane had been a passenger in a vehicle driven by Bless Jones when attackers opened fire; Lane was struck in the back and died at the scene.

Investigators found the shooting involved multiple people and an illegal weapons modification: a 9mm handgun altered with a Glock switch to fire as a fully automatic weapon. Per the investigation, the perpetrators fired thirteen rounds in about one second. Less than an hour later, one of the group went to Jones’s home and fired another twelve rounds at Jones and another person; both survived uninjured.

Three people were charged in connection with the case. Legious Robert Minder Jr., then 22, later pleaded guilty and received a long prison term. Xavier Grenon was tried separately; he was convicted in connection with the attempted killing of Jones but was acquitted of charges directly tied to Lane’s death. The third co-defendant, Frederick Antwan Marks Jr. of Bath, remained incarcerated awaiting trial.

Did anyone in the Allentown area know Najeer Lane or have information about the events that night?