On the evening of April 25, 2021, a west Wichita apartment at Morgan’s Landing was the scene of a deadly home invasion that killed 17-year-old Eric Stokes Jr. Stokes, described as a skateboarder who liked freestyle rap and hoped to work for NASA, was inside an apartment with four others when three armed, masked people forced entry. The group retreated to a bedroom as the intruders opened fire; Stokes was struck and pronounced dead at the scene, while another 17-year-old sustained minor injuries and was released from the hospital.

Investigators treated the invasion as connected to a drug transaction and used security camera footage plus community tips to identify suspects. Three people were arrested: brothers Jaron Palmer and Easton Shaner-Palmer, and Breckyn I. Elliott. The case centers on an arranged purchase of illegal THC vaping cartridges that turned into an armed robbery, and one defendant has been convicted of first-degree murder in Stokes’s death.

Does anyone have information about Eric, his circle, or the transaction that could shed light on what happened that night?