Christopher Garcia was 14 when he was shot while with a group of six teenagers at Russ Binney Park in Ulysses, Kansas, on the evening of April 28, 2021. A nearby resident called 911 after hearing gunshots; officers found Christopher with gunshot wounds to his face and neck. He was taken first to Bob Wilson Memorial Hospital, then airlifted to Ascension Via Christi in Wichita, where he died on May 2, 2021.

The Ulysses Police Department, assisted by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, developed a suspect, a 13-year-old boy from Ulysses named Javion Valdez. On May 13, 2021, Valdez was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a firearm, and possession of stolen property. He pleaded not guilty at his first court appearance and was released from juvenile detention into the custody of a family member outside Ulysses on conditions including ankle monitoring.

Was anyone at Russ Binney Park that evening who hasn’t yet been interviewed or who has information about the handgun or how it was obtained?