In the early morning hours of October 26, 2019, six gunshots were reported on Shelton Avenue in New Haven. Responding officers found 35-year-old Curtis McCray Jr. of Hamden lying unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital and pronounced dead; the chief medical examiner later ruled the death a homicide from a gunshot wound to the trunk that injured the aorta and a lung.

New Haven detectives pursued interviews and reviewed surveillance for more than two years. They identified 37-year-old Michael Holmes as a suspect; Holmes had called 911 on the night of the shooting and was known to frequent the area. Holmes repeatedly denied involvement and at one point suggested he might have been the intended target.

In February 2022 investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Holmes, then jailed on an unrelated matter, charging him with felony murder and felony criminal possession of a firearm in connection with McCray’s death. If anyone knew Curtis or has information about the shooting, please come forward.