Aniya Ellis was killed in Houston, Texas, on July 9, 2009. The case has received limited media attention and remains unsolved.

Details about the homicide are sparse. The Houston Police Department’s Cold Case Squad has revisited unsolved murders including Ellis’s, but her investigation faces hurdles mentioned in connection with many older cases—missing evidence, scarce witness cooperation, and the limited forensic options available at the time. There is no indication that substantial leads have been developed in her case.

Law enforcement agencies and community initiatives in Houston have pursued cold-case work using Crime Stoppers, DNA advances, and interagency collaboration; those efforts have solved other long-open cases, and hope remains that similar breakthroughs could help in Ellis’s case.

If anyone has information about Aniya Ellis or the events of July 9, 2009, please come forward to Crime Stoppers or the Houston Police Department.