On April 28, 2019, at about 12:45 a.m. near Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, 23-year-old Dwane Simmons was shot and killed outside an off-campus party. Simmons, a junior and cornerback on the Washburn football team, had been with teammates—including Corey Ballentine—celebrating Ballentine’s recent NFL draft selection when a car approached. Witnesses said occupants asked if the group had marijuana; after being told no, the vehicle began to leave, stopped, and multiple people then exited and opened fire. Ballentine suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

Topeka police arrested 18-year-old Francisco Alejandro Mendez in July 2019 and charged him with first-degree murder for Simmons’s death, attempted first-degree murder for the shooting of Ballentine, and additional counts related to other victims. Prosecutors said the motive was that Mendez and others in the car felt disrespected by the players’ response. A jury convicted Francisco Mendez of first-degree murder and several counts of attempted murder in March 2022; in May 2022 Mendez received a life sentence. The other occupants who participated in the shooting have not been publicly identified or charged.

Did anyone who knew Dwane or who was at that party come forward with details that helped identify the vehicle or its occupants?