On the morning of September 15, 2013, 16-year-old Gerard Gomez, a junior at Mount Vernon High School who played lacrosse, was shot and killed outside a Residence Inn in the Vienna area of Fairfax County, Virginia. Officers found him on a sidewalk about 2 a.m.; he was pronounced dead at the scene despite resuscitation efforts. Friends and family described him as well liked and known for an easy smile.

The shooting followed a birthday party in a hotel room that had been disrupted when 23-year-old Jose Alberto Blanco-Calzadilla displayed a handgun. Prosecutors say Gomez, who had been drinking, confronted Blanco-Calzadilla about revealing the weapon and challenged him; Blanco-Calzadilla then stepped back, pulled out the gun, and fired one shot into Gomez’s chest. Blanco-Calzadilla later turned himself in and was initially charged with murder; in May 2014 he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and faced up to 10 years in prison.

Did anyone at the party or nearby that night see what happened as guests were leaving?