On Sunday afternoon, February 6, 2022, 43-year-old Aaron Vernell Higgs was fatally shot in the back of the head while seated in the passenger seat of a car outside the Fastrac convenience store at 1800 Genesee Street in Utica, New York. Officers arrived at about 1:55 p.m. and pronounced Higgs dead at the scene. The driver, who was inside the store at the time, was not considered a suspect.

Investigators identified 38-year-old Anthony Willis of Utica as a suspect; he had been seated in the backseat of the same vehicle. Surveillance footage and witness statements led police to a Noyes Street residence where Willis was taken into custody later that day. A handgun was recovered from the vehicle; Willis was found in possession of a large quantity of narcotics and more than $40,000 in cash. He was charged with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon, and multiple counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance. Willis later pleaded guilty to the murder, saying only that he was not in his right state of mind. On August 8, 2022, an Oneida County Court judge sentenced him to 21 years to life in prison.

No publicly stated motive for the targeted attack has been established. Did anyone in Utica know Aaron Higgs or have information about why he might have been targeted?