In the early morning of June 28, 2017, 46-year-old taxi driver Ricky Ray Lillie was found unresponsive in the driver’s seat of his cab at the Alexis Park Inn on South Riverside Drive in Iowa City. A fellow driver who went to check on him called police at about 3:42 a.m.; the death was treated as suspicious and the Johnson County Medical Examiner later ruled it a homicide, determining Lillie had sustained gunshot wounds to the head.

Investigators determined Lillie had picked up a passenger on June 27 whose ride ended in the 500 block of Ernest Street, behind the motel where his body was discovered. Within days law enforcement identified a person of interest, Curtis Cortez Jones, who was already in custody on unrelated charges; an arrest warrant charging Jones with first-degree murder was issued July 19, 2017. Surveillance footage was reported to show Jones leaving the area where the cab was found, and several of Lillie’s belongings were missing from the vehicle.

Lillie’s employer described him as well liked and professional. Does anyone have information about Lillie’s last fares or the events around the 500 block of Ernest Street that morning?