Derrick Blanton, 27, was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in Detroit on the evening of May 5, 2016. He was driving a conversion van near Rosa Parks Boulevard and Glynn Court in the Boston-Edison neighborhood with his 19-year-old girlfriend and their two young children, a one-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy, when occupants of a black Impala with silver trim opened fire. After Blanton was struck, he lost control and the van crashed into a pole; he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The girlfriend suffered a gunshot wound to a finger and was treated and released from a nearby hospital. Both children were hospitalized for injuries from the crash; the one-year-old was reported stable while the six-year-old’s condition was initially unknown. Detroit Police investigators described the shooting as a targeted attack and noted a possible connection to the fatal shooting of Blanton’s best friend a few months earlier, an event Blanton had witnessed.

Multiple leads were followed and several people were questioned. One suspect was arrested, tried and found guilty of Blanton’s murder. If anyone knew Derrick, his family, or saw the black Impala near Rosa Parks Boulevard and Glynn Court that night, please come forward with information.