Stefan Ross, 41, a Black man, was killed on the night of April 11, 2020, in East Harlem, when a brief, vicious burst of gunfire tore through a small gathering on First Avenue near East 112th Street. The group had come out after dark to build a makeshift memorial—candles and quiet words for a friend, Darnell Brown, who had been shot and killed the previous evening.
When the shots rang out, the sidewalk became a scene of confusion and panic: Ross and another man, Frederick Cross, were mortally wounded, and a third man was struck and left fighting for his life in critical condition at a nearby hospital.
The memorial itself had formed in the shadow of another killing. Brown had been fatally shot on April 10 near First Avenue and East 101st Street, a death that news reporting described as stemming from a conflict involving a “romantic rival.” Police and local coverage later identified Sterling Stewart as the suspected gunman in Brown’s death, and he was arrested and charged in that case with offenses including murder and weapons-related charges. By the time candles were being set out for Brown the next night, the neighborhood was already raw with grief—then the vigil was ambushed by more violence, and Ross’s death became part of a grim chain of events unfolding over the span of roughly 24 hours.
In the aftermath of the April 11 shooting, investigators worked to trace what happened in those few seconds at the memorial: who approached, who fired, and why the gathering was targeted. Early police statements said there were no immediate arrests, and the uncertainty hung over the block—people left trying to make sense of how a moment meant for mourning could turn into a double homicide. Witness accounts reported in the press described candles dropped mid-placement, bodies collapsing where they stood, and neighbors reacting in shock as sirens and emergency lights washed over the street.
Days later, police publicly sought 33-year-old James Spain as a person of interest connected to the April 11 shootings, asking for help locating him as the investigation continued. At the time of those reports, authorities said there had been no arrests announced in connection with the deaths of Ross and Cross, leaving the case resting on leads still being pursued and on whatever witnesses—or cameras—might have captured the shooter’s movements before he vanished into the night.
