On the morning of May 1, 2016, 42-year-old Gabriel Sanchez was shot and killed at his West Allis apartment after a neighbor, Zachary Hays, began forcefully banging on the door. The family’s partner answered and handed Hays a basement key, then heard more banging and refused to return the key when asked. Hays demanded to know the location of his brother and tried to force his way in. Sanchez joined his partner to keep the door closed; during the struggle Hays produced a gun and fired through the door, striking Sanchez in the chest. Sanchez told his family to run; Hays reached inside and fired again as the woman and the couple’s two sons fled into a bathroom. Officers found Sanchez in the doorway; he was pronounced dead from the chest wound.

The partner later identified Hays as the shooter. He was charged with first-degree reckless homicide in Sanchez’s death. That same day Hays was linked to a separate fatal drive-by shooting on Interstate 90/94, and questions about his mental health led to a competency evaluation. A court later found him competent to stand trial, and in August 2016 he pleaded not guilty to the homicide charge. Did anyone in the West Allis area witness Hays acting aggressively that morning or know why he was asking for his brother?