Allen Troy McKinley Cannon, known as Messy, was a 34-year-old Black man who was shot in the head and leg in Wilmington, Delaware, on the night of June 26, 2016. Officers found him critically wounded near the 900 block of North Spruce Street; he was taken to Christiana Hospital and pronounced dead. In the hours before the shooting Cannon had been near a high-stakes dice game. Testimony later presented at trial described an attempted theft of cash from Brian Wilson at that game, which prosecutors said led Wilson to hire a shooter in retaliation.

Witness Tomika Tate, who was near Cannon when the shots rang out, identified Eric Ray as the gunman. Security footage reportedly placed Ray and Robert Teat III near the scene before the shooting and showed Teat afterward; communications evidence tied Wilson, Teat and Ray together and a photograph from Teat’s phone the next day reportedly showed him with a large amount of cash. A New Castle County grand jury indicted Brian Wilson and Eric Ray in January 2019; Wilson was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation in January 2020 and later had those convictions affirmed on appeal. Court filings describe the killing as a hired retaliation carried out after the failed attempt to take Wilson’s money.

Did anyone in Wilmington know Cannon, the other men involved, or the dice game that night and have details to share?