On the evening of April 23, 2022, Patrick Burton, a 53-year-old African American man from Kansas City, Missouri, was shot inside a vehicle on the 1900 block of Hackley Avenue near Des Moines International Airport. Responders arrived just before 8:30 p.m. to find Burton with a life-threatening gunshot wound to the head after he had been attempting to exit from the passenger seat. He was taken to hospital in critical condition and died early the next morning, recorded as Des Moines’ seventh homicide of 2022.

Police arrested a 24-year-old, identified as Eric Lewis Stricklin of West Des Moines, at the scene without incident. Officers recovered a firearm and a shell casing, and nearby surveillance footage reportedly captured the shooting inside the vehicle. Stricklin initially faced attempted murder charges; after Burton’s death the charge was upgraded to first-degree murder. Detectives reported that Stricklin invoked his right to remain silent when questioned.

Are there readers who saw activity on Hackley Avenue that night or who can shed light on what happened inside the vehicle?