Lavalle Ja’ron Priest, a 21-year-old Black man, was shot and killed in Minneapolis in the early hours of Saturday, August 18, 2012. Initial local reports placed the killing in north Minneapolis during the predawn hours, one of several violent incidents in the city that weekend. Authorities did not publicly identify a motive and were working to piece together a timeline while asking the community for help.

Investigators sought witnesses and tried to determine whether Priest’s slaying was connected to another shooting that same weekend, but they said they did not know if the cases were linked. Public death records and memorial notices later confirmed his identity and date of death and noted that funeral arrangements were handled privately by his family.

If anyone saw or heard anything in north Minneapolis around the predawn hours of August 18, 2012, that could help, please come forward.