Brandon Gray was 20 when he was shot and killed on June 2, 2017, on Dobson Street in Kernersville, North Carolina. According to witnesses, the confrontation began when 53-year-old James Gilbert approached Brandon and his friends while shouting racial slurs. Brandon, sitting on a front porch across the street from where Gilbert lived, confronted Gilbert; he was shot and died at the scene despite attempts to revive him.

Gilbert was initially charged with murder and later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter under a plea deal that carried a maximum nine-year sentence. Brandon’s mother, April Gray, and other family members protested the reduced charge and sentence as insufficient. The family’s grief was compounded when Brandon’s grave was vandalized twice; floral pieces and funeral arrangements were removed and the site required restoration. Memorials were held and the community offered support.

Are there readers who knew Brandon or who might have information about that night on Dobson Street?