On August 17, 2015, 24-year-old Jose Morales was found in his Hutchinson, Kansas, home in the 300 block of East 7th with multiple gunshot wounds after reports of gunfire. He was taken to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center and died from his injuries. Investigators concluded the shooting occurred during an illegal drug transaction that had begun the day before and that Morales, an electrician, was shot by a purchaser of methamphetamine who became paranoid and opened fire.

Authorities arrested 31-year-old Brennan R. Trass on a charge of first-degree murder after Trass called 911 saying he had shot Morales in self-defense. Trass was later convicted in April 2019 by a Reno County jury of first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm by a felon and received a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 51 and a half years. In September 2024 the Kansas Supreme Court reversed the murder conviction and ordered a new trial, ruling Trass’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel was violated when he was required to represent himself; the case was remanded for a retrial before a different judge.

Does anyone have information about Morales, the 300 block of East 7th around that time, or the events leading up to the transaction that began the day before?