On the evening of January 4, 2017, 26-year-old Francisco Cruz-Williams was shot twice in the chest while seated in his parked BMW near Ninth and Allen streets in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Witnesses saw him stumble from the vehicle and collapse in a nearby alley; he was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest and pronounced dead. His death was recorded as Allentown’s first homicide of 2017.

Cruz-Williams, a Hispanic man who studied sound recording and engineering at Lehigh Carbon Community College, was known for his love of rap music and plans to work with local artists. Friends and neighbors left candles and memorials at the scene in the days after the shooting.

The Allentown Detective Bureau, the Lehigh County district attorney’s office, the county Homicide Task Force, and the coroner’s office processed the scene, collected evidence from the car and surrounding area, and interviewed witnesses. No suspects were immediately identified and no arrests had been made; the investigation remains open. If anyone has information that could help in the case, please share it with authorities.