Salim Richards, 35, was fatally shot on the evening of December 2, 2017, as he arrived at the Cove at 44th Apartments in west Phoenix near 43rd Avenue and Indian School Road. A single gunshot struck his chest and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses heard a vehicle speed away after the shot.

Investigators initially treated the killing as possibly random or a robbery: Richards’ gold chain and his personal 9mm Glock were missing. Ballistics later tied shell casings from other recent Phoenix homicides to that same Glock, and cell phone records placed a suspect in the area of the Cove just before and after the shooting. Records also show the suspect and Richards had been incarcerated in the same unit at Lewis prison in 2003–2004. Prosecutors announced Richards was one of several victims in a linked series of killings for which charges were filed.

Did anyone who knew Salim in Phoenix or from his time in prison notice contacts between him and others in late 2017?