On the afternoon of June 1, 2020, John Gerard Cyprian, 41 and known as Black, was walking with a woman near East 16th Avenue and North Akron Street in Aurora, Colorado, when a man in an SUV stopped, got out and charged at Cyprian with a gun. The shooter, later identified as 45-year-old Steven Young, fired a single shot that struck Cyprian in the abdomen. Cyprian crawled to a nearby field, was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. An autopsy found the bullet ruptured his small intestine and severed a major artery, causing fatal blood loss. At the time he was homeless but was actively trying to find an apartment.

Police initially sought public help and, after a tip from a reliable informant, identified Steven Young as the shooter. An Adams County jury later convicted Young of first-degree murder and he received a life sentence without parole. Young was also identified as a suspect in the killing of the woman who had been with Cyprian about a week later.

If anyone knew John Cyprian or saw him in that neighborhood on June 1, 2020, please share information that could help clarify what happened.