Christopher McKay Ballard was 38 when he was fatally shot in the predawn hours of July 6, 2013, at the intersection of 53rd and E Streets SE in Washington, D.C. Officers arrived around 2:14 a.m. and found him lying in the street with multiple gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators tied Ballard’s killing to an impending court appearance: he was due to testify two days later in an armed carjacking case. In December before his death Ballard and another person had been carjacked at gunpoint in the same neighborhood, and Ballard identified one alleged perpetrator, resulting in the arrest of Delante Smith. A second suspect from that carjacking reportedly was murdered at the same intersection where Ballard later died. Reports say Ballard had been assaulted in the area the weekend before his killing and that authorities tried to keep him away from the neighborhood for his safety.

The Metropolitan Police Department lists the case as a major unsolved homicide and has received no public reports of arrests or named suspects. If anyone knew Christopher, witnessed activity near 53rd and E Streets SE around July 6, 2013, or has information relevant to his murder, please come forward.