Shanta Myers was a 36-year-old African American woman living in a basement apartment on Second Avenue in the Lansingburgh section of Troy with her partner and children. In late December 2017 family and friends grew concerned when the household’s routines went silent; on December 26 a property manager who had been asked to check on the apartment entered and found four people dead. Investigators concluded the killings occurred on December 21. Police described the scene as brutal, said it was not believed to be random, and reported the victims had been bound before they were killed — two of the victims were young children.

Investigators focused on two men from Schenectady. James White and Justin Mann were arrested December 30, 2017, and initially faced top-level murder charges; police said one of the defendants was acquainted with a victim. Prosecutors later presented a burglary-and-robbery theory, alleging the men entered the home, stole property and then killed everyone inside. Mann eventually agreed to plead guilty and to cooperate as a prosecution witness; White was tried, convicted in December 2021 on multiple murder, burglary and robbery counts, and in January 2022 was sentenced to life without parole.

Did anyone in Lansingburgh in December 2017 notice unfamiliar visitors or vehicles near Second Avenue that might help complete the timeline?