On the evening of February 24, 2017, 26-year-old Michael Watkins was found lying on Berkshire Avenue in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with multiple gunshot wounds. Responders arrived just before 10 p.m. and discovered he had been shot in the head. He was taken to Bridgeport Hospital and pronounced dead shortly afterward. His death was reported as the city’s fourth homicide of the year and the second on that day.

Investigators say the shooting arose from a drug transaction. Watkins had arranged to sell several pounds of marijuana to a man named Willard Hargrove and got into Hargrove’s car. Another man, 26-year-old Jovanne Brown, was hiding in the back seat. During a planned robbery, Brown shot Watkins multiple times, then Watkins’ body was pushed from the vehicle and left on the street. Brown later arrived at a different hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound; investigators determined Watkins had fired at Brown during the altercation. Brown initially lied about his injury but later confessed and claimed self-defense after alleging Watkins shot him first.

Brown was arrested the day after the shooting and charged with felony murder, robbery, and weapons offenses. Authorities later identified Willard Hargrove as a person of interest. Does anyone have information about Michael Watkins, the meeting on Berkshire Avenue, or the individuals involved?