Steven J. Hess, 48, was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Diplomat Motel in Oakland City, Indiana, on February 7, 2018. The conflict began the night before with complaints of noise from a motel room; Hess, the motel manager, decided to evict the tenants. The situation escalated when 21-year-old Anthony Christian Hoskins and another person came to the office to dispute the eviction and the argument moved outside.

Hoskins, who had a handgun, fired and struck Hess and then called 911 to report the shooting. He was arrested and initially charged with voluntary manslaughter; the charge was later elevated to murder. Hoskins maintained he acted in self-defense, saying Hess had a baseball bat and had threatened him, and surveillance video captured the incident. At the September 2018 trial in Gibson Superior Court the jury acquitted Hoskins of murder after deliberating for over four hours, a verdict that drew strong reactions from Hess’s family and friends.

Did anyone know Hess or see activity at the Diplomat Motel around February 7, 2018?