Harold Phillips was a 22-year-old Black man when he was beaten to death with a hammer inside his apartment at 27 East 124th Street in New York City on October 3, 1976. The killing initially produced thin leads and remained unsolved amid other Manhattan homicides of the period.

Investigators later linked Phillips’ death to a broader investigation after the dismembered remains of teenager Harry Carillo were found in Central Park on December 29, 1976. Waldo Grant, who was reported last seen with Carillo, was questioned and on January 10, 1977 confessed not only to Carillo’s murder but to three earlier killings, including the hammer beating that killed Phillips. Grant was tried and, on June 30, 1978, was found guilty of four murders and received four concurrent life sentences.

Does anyone have memories of East 124th Street in 1976 or information about Harold Phillips that could help fill in who he was before that night?