On the morning of October 24, 2022, 28-year-old Nicole Michelle Hammond was shot and killed in the parking lot of her workplace in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. Officers found her near her car with a single gunshot wound to the neck just before the start of a shift at a local textile factory.

Investigators focused on a co-worker, Michael Carpenter, then 36, after colleagues said he had made repeated unwanted romantic advances toward Hammond over the previous month that she had rejected. The night before the shooting, Hammond sent messages telling Carpenter she did not want to be touched or manipulated and asking him not to make the workplace uncomfortable. Witnesses reported hearing a shot and seeing Carpenter walk away and drive off.

Police arrested Carpenter later that day and recovered a 9mm pistol and a loaded magazine from his vehicle; the ammunition matched a shell casing found near Hammond. A grand jury indicted him on first-degree premeditated murder after initial second-degree murder charges. Anyone who knew Nicole, worked at that factory, or has information about the case is asked to come forward.