Tony Phelps, 47, was shot in the early evening of June 19, 2014, on West 35th Street in Norfolk’s Park Place neighborhood and died after being rushed to the hospital. Neighbors said three shots were heard—initially mistaken for firecrackers—and found Phelps facedown near the sidewalk’s edge, struggling to roll over as his breathing became thin and uneven.

People who knew him remembered Phelps for regular service at Park Place Methodist Church, where he helped in the soup kitchen, and said he battled diabetes that he did not always treat. Witnesses reported a group of about ten people running west on 35th Street as Phelps lay bleeding; police did not release a description of a shooter and there had been no arrests the day after the killing. Neighbors also mentioned that a box cutter was on him when his body was turned over, a detail offered as a fragment rather than an explanation.

Anyone who saw the shooting or knew Tony’s routines in Park Place is asked to share information that could help fill in what happened that evening.