On the morning of December 31, 2014, Steven L. Sawyer, 49, was found shot to death in the street in the 9200 block of West 83rd Terrace in Overland Park, Kansas. Neighbors reported hearing shouting followed by four to six gunshots shortly after 6 a.m.; Sawyer’s car was still running when police arrived. Investigators believed the confrontation began when Sawyer interrupted an attempted car theft.

Detectives followed tips and scientific evidence that led to 19-year-old DeMario D. Thompson, who was arrested in February 2015 by the U.S. Marshals Kansas Fugitive Task Force and charged with first-degree murder and auto burglary. Thompson later pleaded guilty in January 2017 to second-degree murder, auto burglary, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, with a recommended sentence of 25 years and one month.

If anyone knew Steven Sawyer or witnessed activity in that neighborhood on December 31, 2014, please come forward with information.