Demetrius Meecho Jefferson was four years old when he was found with a gunshot wound to his head at the North At White Oak Apartments in Henrico County, Virginia, on May 7, 2018. Family described him as affectionate and a superhero fan who loved The Avengers and Iron Man; a vigil featured attendees dressed as Marvel characters and an Avengers blanket laid out in his memory.

His mother, Tiara Danielle Jefferson, initially told police Demetrius had shot himself after she dozed off from taking a friend’s medication. Investigators later learned the Glock 40-caliber semiautomatic had been stored on a shelf she knew her son had climbed and that the firearm had been reported stolen. A grand jury indicted Jefferson on felony murder and child neglect in September 2018; the felony murder count was linked to child neglect.

In December 2019 Jefferson, then 26, entered an Alford plea to child neglect, acknowledging prosecutors had sufficient evidence while not admitting guilt; the felony homicide charge was dropped and the neglect charge carried a possible sentence of up to 10 years. Is there anyone who knew Demetrius or saw him around the apartment complex that day who can help fill in the timeline?