Brittany Colvin was a 23-year-old Chicago resident who was killed on October 20, 2012. Her death came during a year when the city recorded 506 homicides, an increase of more than 70 compared with the previous two years, and amid a broader spike in violence across neighborhoods struggling with gang activity.

Reports place Colvin’s death in the context of 2012’s unusual rise in violent crime, which has been linked in part to unseasonably warm weather and the disbanding of specialized gang units that had focused interventions in known hot spots. Police leadership was shifting toward community-focused policing while those units were no longer operating, a change some observers say left vulnerable neighborhoods without the same targeted tools to manage gang conflicts.

Does anyone have information about Brittany, where she lived or spent time, or details about the incident on October 20, 2012?