A summer barbecue on Fairlawn Avenue in Washington, D.C., ended in gunfire on July 26, 2017. Thirty-eight-year-old Daniel Shelton Parker was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene. The medical examiner reported so many entry and exit wounds that the exact number could not be determined. Officers found a pistol in Parker’s waistband.

Police arrested DeWayne Shorter Jr. about a month after the shooting and charged him with first-degree murder while armed. Prosecutors said the killing was retaliatory, alleging Parker had shot Shorter months earlier. At trial Parker’s brother testified he saw Shorter at the scene and that Shorter made an incriminating statement; another witness said Parker had identified Lil Wayne, believed to be Shorter, as someone who would be responsible if anything happened to him. The defense stressed lack of DNA evidence and attacked witness credibility; an eyewitness said they saw someone with a long firearm leaving the area and that it was not Shorter. After testimony from 24 witnesses and two days of jury deliberation, Shorter was found not guilty on all counts in December 2021.

Did anyone at that Fairlawn Avenue gathering notice anything unusual beforehand or recognize the person who left with the long firearm?