Jeffrey Hayes, 48, was found dead in a vacant lot near Hayford and Balmer roads in Airway Heights, Washington, on the morning of December 2, 2021. The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about 10:10 a.m.; the Spokane County Medical Examiner determined Hayes died of a penetrating gunshot wound to the torso. Security footage from the Northern Quest Resort & Casino shows Hayes waiting near the casino at about 10 a.m. when a white Kia Optima arrived and a passenger opened a rear door for him. Investigators established Hayes had arranged to meet a man named Shawn Cottingham that morning and later learned Hayes suffered two gunshot wounds, to the left calf and to the neck, the neck wound proving fatal as it traveled into his torso.

Within days the probe led to arrests in December 2021. Ezekiel Mentell, 23, and Shawn Cottingham, 32, were taken into custody. Cottingham later pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and robbery, saying he did not fire the fatal shot but accepting responsibility for his role; he was sentenced to 23 years in prison and the family publicly offered forgiveness.

Does anyone have details about Hayes’s movements earlier that morning or who else might have seen him near the casino?