On the night of February 26, 2021, Darrell Merriwether, a 52-year-old Black man from Clive, was found with a fatal gunshot wound in a residential area several blocks southeast of Drake University in Des Moines. Emergency responders arrived around 11:20 p.m.; Merriwether was transported to a hospital and died in the early hours of Saturday. His death was ruled the city’s first homicide of 2021.

Within a week investigators identified two local men. Columbus Plum Lewis, 51, was reportedly present at the scene and left before help arrived; he was charged with first-degree murder. Virgil Alva See, 55, was first described as an uncooperative witness and later told investigators Lewis had been at the residence. A witness said See put his hand in Merriwether’s pocket after the shooting, and Merriwether’s ID and debit and credit cards were later found at See’s home. See was charged with first-degree theft and accessory after the fact.

Does anyone have information about Merriwether’s last known movements or about the neighborhood that could help the investigation?