On the evening of July 4, 2005, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 18-year-old Joseph Adetula was walking north on North Frankfort Avenue after buying fireworks when a gold-colored, four-door vehicle—possibly an Oldsmobile or a Cadillac—pulled up alongside him and shots were fired from the car. Emergency services were called at about 8:50 p.m.; officers found Joseph in the 5600 block of North Frankfort with four to five gunshot wounds. He was taken to St. John Medical Center and later died of his injuries.

Detectives recovered nine-millimeter shell casings and interviewed numerous people who had been in the area, but no witness could clearly identify the shooter or shooters. Reports of prior bad blood between Joseph and his assailants did not produce any arrests, and the vehicle description remains the primary lead. The case is unsolved and is now cold. Joseph’s father, Dayo Adetula, later established the Joseph Adetula Foundation to prevent youth violence in his son’s memory.

If anyone knew Joseph, saw a gold-colored four-door Oldsmobile or Cadillac near North Frankfort Avenue on July 4, 2005, or has information about the shooting, please come forward.