On the morning of Black Friday, November 25, 2016, Demond Cottman, a 21-year-old Black man, was fatally shot in the Hamilton Mall parking lot in Mays Landing, New Jersey. The attack occurred about 1:15 a.m. as shoppers were arriving for early holiday sales. Cottman’s brother, Shadi, was also shot and wounded in the leg during what authorities described as a targeted ambush.

Investigators say the shooting was retaliatory. Three men from Egg Harbor City — Steven Martinez, Timothy Davis, and Malik Boone — were later charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and weapons offenses. Authorities allege Martinez used a GPS tracker to follow Cottman after suspecting him in an August robbery; mall surveillance reportedly showed the suspects lying in wait in a vehicle before the brothers were attacked. At the time charges were filed, Martinez and Davis were already jailed on other matters and Malik Boone was a fugitive.

The case is linked to another killing when Cottman’s father, Demond Tally, was shot and killed in February 2019, and Martinez was later implicated in that death. Does anyone have information about the Hamilton Mall shooting or the movements of the vehicle seen on surveillance that night?