On the morning of October 30, 2019, Reginald L. Ward Jr., a 27-year-old Black man from Moline, Illinois, was fatally shot during a confrontation at a Kum & Go convenience store on First Avenue East in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ward was with his girlfriend, Kiara Morrise, when her ex-boyfriend, Todd Ricky Jenkins, who investigators say had driven from Davenport to Cedar Rapids, confronted the pair. An argument escalated and at about 7:52 a.m. Jenkins shot Ward.

Emergency responders took Ward to UnityPoint Health–St. Luke’s Hospital, but he died of blood loss after a single 9mm bullet struck his right thigh and severed his femoral artery. Authorities described the shooting as not random and said Ward had been specifically targeted. Surveillance footage and witness statements helped identify Jenkins as the suspect; a silver vehicle was seen leaving the scene.

A monthslong search followed before law enforcement located Jenkins. Kiara Morrise was later arrested and charged as an accessory after the fact. What details about the confrontation or the relationship remain unclear to readers with direct knowledge of the case?