A backyard barbecue in Detroit turned deadly on the night of August 21, 2022, when 31-year-old Ronnie Charles Ray II was shot and killed during an argument over barbecue chicken on Pierson Street. The shooting occurred just before 9:30 p.m., and the victim died at the scene.

Authorities identified 29-year-old Deveius Monta Weathers of Eastpointe as the shooter. After the shooting Weathers fled but was tracked to a Heyden Street residence where he barricaded himself inside with a 2-year-old girl believed to be his daughter. The standoff lasted about five hours; Weathers negotiated with police, at one point offering to exchange the child for a pack of cigarettes, and ultimately surrendered carrying the child.

Weathers was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, carrying a concealed weapon, third-degree fleeing and eluding, and felony firearm. He was reportedly on bond for an unrelated late-2020 shooting at his girlfriend, and a GPS tether he was wearing helped locate him and the alleged murder weapon.

Does anyone who was at the gathering or who knew Ronnie Ray have information that could shed light on what led to the argument?