Felipe Lopez was 16 when he was found inside a crashed vehicle on Albany Avenue in Hartford shortly before 1 a.m. on April 24, 2019. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at a hospital. The shooting happened two days before his 17th birthday; Lopez was a student at LP Wilson and was the father of a young child.

Investigators concluded Lopez had been targeted. There were no bullet holes in the car’s exterior, and police say the shots may have been fired from inside the vehicle. A Facebook Messenger thread arranging a small marijuana transaction on Sigourney Street was recovered from Lopez’s phone; the account used to set up the meeting was traced to 22-year-old Isaiah Benitez and the mother of his children. Benitez was arrested less than ten days later and charged with murder and carrying a pistol without a permit. He reportedly confessed that the drug deal went wrong and admitted to shooting Lopez; after being shot in the chest Lopez crashed his vehicle.

At the time of the murder arrest Benitez was already facing attempted murder and assault charges from a separate March double-shooting. He was held on $1.5 million bond, and Lopez’s family publicly called for justice as court proceedings began.

Did anyone in Hartford recognize the Sigourney Street location or know more about the transaction that led to Felipe’s death?