Maria Cruz, a 41-year-old Hispanic/Latina woman from Rockaway, New York, was fatally shot during an underground cockfight in Newark’s North Ward between June 28 and 29, 2014. The illegal event was held inside a private home on 3rd Avenue and drew a crowded room of spectators and gamblers. Prosecutors say an armed robbery was planned by three men and that, in the chaos, one of them fired into the crowd; Cruz was struck and later died at a hospital.

An Essex County grand jury indicted Samir Thomas, Kelvin Diaz, and Luis Ortiz in 2016 on counts tied to the robbery and the killing. Thomas faced multiple counts including conspiracy, attempted robbery, felony murder and weapons offenses; Diaz faced felony murder, attempted robbery and weapons charges; Ortiz was indicted on conspiracy, burglary and animal-cruelty counts related to the cockfight.

Did anyone in Newark or Rockaway attend that cockfight or know Maria Cruz and what happened that night?