Tyrae D. Hayes, 25, was ambushed and fatally shot inside the Citgo station at 901 E. 5th Avenue in Gary, Indiana, on July 31, 2022. First responders found him near the front counter with multiple gunshot wounds to his head and body; he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators treated the killing as retaliatory. Authorities identified 19-year-old Byron Barnes as a principal perpetrator after surveillance footage showed Barnes and another man entering the station and opening fire on Hayes. Hayes had been a suspect, but never formally charged, in the November 2021 killing of Tobigah Goins, a friend of Barnes. Prosecutors said evidence at trial showed a planned attack and efforts to conceal identity; Barnes was convicted and later sentenced to 65 years in prison.

Two other men were initially implicated: Michael R. Alexander was charged alongside Barnes but those charges were later dropped and his case expunged; Jimmijion T. Bailey was believed to have driven the shooters but charges against him were rejected in 2022 and his case expunged when prosecutors said they could not prove the case. Does anyone have information about Hayes’s last hours at the station or about witnesses who came forward?