On the evening of April 23, 2023, 17-year-old Elias Jakob Cieslak was found with a gunshot wound behind a shopping center on Belair Road in Baltimore County, Maryland. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead. Cieslak was a senior at Parkville High School at the time of his death.

Investigators say the killing grew out of a planned robbery. Charging documents allege Elias was set up by 18-year-old Bryson Butterfly under the pretense of a marijuana transaction involving a large sum of money. The complaint alleges Butterfly picked Elias up and drove him to the shopping center, where 32-year-old David Lofton and another 17-year-old awaited to rob him at gunpoint; Elias was shot during the robbery. Cell phone records, cell tower pings, and security camera footage are reported to have linked Butterfly, Lofton, and the juvenile to the scene. Lofton reportedly admitted participating in the robbery but denied firing the fatal shot; Butterfly initially claimed his phone had been stolen but records reportedly showed his phone in use after the killing.

All three suspects were apprehended, with Butterfly arrested in West Virginia by U.S. Marshals and extradited to Baltimore County. All face charges of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime. Does anyone have information about Elias, his movements that night, or the people involved?