On June 16, 2015, 15-year-old Malek Dayvon Mercer, a Ballou High School student, was shot on the 2800 block of 28th Street SE in Washington, D.C., after an encounter that began at a bus stop. The conflict reportedly started over a comment about Mercer’s designer belt and escalated when Mercer snickered at a remark by one of the other men. After both rode the same bus for a short time, 26-year-old Derryck Decuir followed Mercer off the bus and shot him once in the back of the neck.

First responders found Mercer bleeding on a street corner; he was taken to a hospital and died of his injuries on June 19, 2015. The ensuing investigation led to Decuir’s arrest. Prosecutors introduced ballistics tying a gun they say belonged to Decuir to the shooting and presented text messages and internet searches from his phone. A prosecution witness also testified Mercer had a shotgun in his backpack the night he was killed, a point the defense used to argue self-defense.

Trials produced two mistrials on first-degree murder charges before Decuir was convicted in 2017 on counts including unlawful possession of a firearm, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence. In a later trial he was found guilty of second-degree murder and received a prison sentence. Does anyone have information about Malek’s last day or the people who were at that bus stop?