Dewayne Johnson was 24 and a Fort Myers resident when he was shot at his father’s home on Thomas Street on July 4, 2017. He and his father, Dwayne Broughton, were both struck and taken to Lee Memorial Hospital; Johnson died of his wounds, becoming the city’s second homicide victim that year.

Police say the shooting was retaliatory. Investigators allege 37-year-old Taheed Kyrue Stoner shot into the Thomas Street house after his girlfriend, Vaneesha Natia Kent, had been shot in the hand while driving past the home the night before. Stoner fled but was quickly arrested and charged with Johnson’s murder and the attempted murder of Broughton; he was being held without bond. The inquiry also sought to determine who initially shot at Kent.

Johnson’s mother, Ebony Battles, spoke of her grief and the difficulty of understanding why someone she had known since childhood would do this. Did anyone in the area see activity around the Thomas Street home the night before or the morning of July 4, 2017?