On August 6, 2015, 18-year-old James Powell was shot dead in the front yard of a home in the 1100 block of Lane Street in Gary, Indiana. Powell, born July 24, 1997, was a student at West Side Leadership Academy and due to begin his senior year. Officers who responded to reports of gunfire shortly before noon also found a second victim, Raymond Washington-Whitehead, deceased inside the residence.

Investigators quickly identified a primary suspect, 22-year-old Shelton Curtis, and an arrest warrant described him as armed and dangerous. Another 22-year-old, Kevin Blackmon, was arrested and charged with assisting a criminal in connection with the case. Shelton Curtis later surrendered and was charged with two counts of murder for the deaths of Powell and Washington-Whitehead.

The double homicide was one of seven murders in Gary during a seven-day span that summer, leaving the community shaken and grieving. Does anyone have information about James, the events on Lane Street that day, or knew him personally?