On New Year’s Day 2019, shortly after midnight, firefighters in Battle Creek, Michigan, responded to a house fire on Graves Avenue and found 58-year-old Howard Leon Gillette dead inside. An autopsy showed Gillette had been shot multiple times, including once to the head, and the fire was deliberately set using an accelerant. The death was treated as a homicide.

Investigators connected evidence from the scene to items found in the vehicle of 18-year-old Drequan Thomas Scott, who had been arrested on New Year’s Eve for driving while intoxicated and was already in custody when police identified him as a suspect. Scott was charged with murder and a felony firearm offense; he later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and to using a firearm in the commission of a felony. During court proceedings Scott claimed self-defense, alleging unwanted sexual advances by Gillette, and the court imposed a minimum 40-year prison term.

If anyone knew Howard, his routines, or saw activity near Graves Avenue on New Year’s Eve, please share information that might help fill gaps in the timeline.