On the evening of July 5, 2020, 16-year-old Rylan Jon Conway was shot inside a home in Evansville, Indiana, and rushed by ambulance to St. Vincent Hospital. The Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office recorded his death at 8:26 p.m. in the emergency room. Investigators scheduled an autopsy for the following day as police worked to determine what happened in the bedroom where the gun went off.

Initial accounts described a teen hangout that turned tragic when a friend, later identified as Eriyon Gibson, pointed a gun at Rylan and pulled the trigger while reportedly believing the weapon was unloaded. Another version said a group of young people were handling the firearm and Gibson said he had unloaded it before the fatal shot. Authorities treated the shooting as a criminal matter; Gibson was later convicted of reckless homicide and, after a guilty plea, received a four-year prison sentence.

Rylan’s death left a deep mark on classmates, teachers, and his family, who said the loss felt like a life erased by a single reckless moment. If anyone knew Rylan, the circumstances at the house that night, or has information about what led to the shooting, please come forward.