On the evening of March 21, 2021, 27-year-old Avery Wilcox Jr. sat in his vehicle in a parking lot on the East Hill of Kent, Washington, waiting with family for a Kent Police civil standby. A well-known barber from Tukwila and a Foster High School football alumnus, he had gone to the apartment he formerly shared with his ex-girlfriend to collect belongings after a breakup.

A vehicle pulled up alongside Wilcox’s car and multiple gunshots were fired. Wilcox suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head; one round passed through his vehicle and struck his mother’s car, which was parked parallel nearby. Wilcox’s stepfather returned fire at the fleeing vehicle. First responders removed Wilcox and took him to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators reported the suspect was known to Wilcox and that years of animosity had existed between Wilcox and Anthony Dexter Ford, a cousin of the ex-girlfriend. Eyewitness accounts and the investigation pointed to Ford as the shooter; he remained at large for about a month while the vehicle used in the shooting was altered and disposed of. If anyone knew Avery, his movements that night, or has information about the confrontation with Ford, please come forward.