Carlton Dawayne Eaton, 25, was found facedown in Murphy Park in Pontiac on the afternoon of January 11, 2018, with a gunshot wound to the back of his head. Deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office pronounced him dead at the scene near Martin Luther King Boulevard and South Boulevard. Eaton was a father of three and was remembered by his family as someone who enjoyed time with them and playing in multiple sporting leagues.

Investigators quickly focused on a suspect after witnesses said the shooting grew out of an apparent family dispute. Witnesses said Andre Atreleoneil Jones, 25, had been told Eaton had assaulted Jones’s cousin and had publicly threatened to harm Eaton. Justin Franklin testified as the sole eyewitness that he was walking with Jones when they encountered Eaton and that Jones shot him; the murder weapon was never recovered. The first trial in March 2019 ended in a mistrial; a retrial produced a guilty verdict on second-degree murder and related firearm charges, and Jones received a long prison sentence.

If anyone was in Murphy Park that afternoon or has information about what led up to the encounter, please share what was seen or heard.