John Lewis, 50, was fatally shot in Chicago on August 16, 2015. His death occurred during a year when the city experienced a marked increase in violence: homicides rose from 416 in 2014 to 468 in 2015, and roughly 2,900 shootings were reported that year.

The broader context around Lewis’s killing included intensified gang-related conflicts, widespread access to firearms, and strained police-community relations after several high-profile incidents involving officers. Analysts at the time pointed to changes in policing tactics, including a reduction in stop-and-frisk and other proactive street stops, as one factor linked to the spike in homicides. The increase affected neighborhoods unevenly, with predominantly African-American and Hispanic communities suffering the greatest losses and heightened insecurity.

Did anyone in Chicago have information about John Lewis’s life, where he spent his time, or the circumstances of his death?