On the morning of Halloween 2016, 61-year-old Robert Rouse was found dead in the 400 block of Walnut Street in Elizabeth, New Jersey. A resident of the city, he was discovered before 6 a.m. and pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the neck.

Law enforcement responding to the scene included the Union County Homicide Task Force and the Elizabeth Police Department. Investigators quickly focused on an 18-year-old neighbor, Jimmy Kearney, who lived less than a block away and was arrested later that same day without incident. Officers say the sequence involved an initial assault as Rouse walked to a train station, Kearney returning to his home to retrieve a .45-caliber handgun, then coming back and shooting Rouse before rifling through his pockets.

Searches reportedly turned up Rouse’s backpack and the handgun at Kearney’s home, while the victim’s wallet, ID, credit cards and transit tickets were recovered from a nearby storm drain. Sneakers Kearney wore at arrest were said to have Rouse’s DNA. If anyone knew Robert Rouse or saw activity on Walnut Street that morning, please share what was seen or heard.