Corey A. Harrell Jr., a 22-year old African American male from Moline, Illinois, was shot and killed in broad daylight on Halloween morning, October 31, 2018.
Around 10:10 a.m., officers inside the nearby police station heard a burst of gunfire; moments later, Harrell was found in a van behind Moline City Hall with multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police quickly said the killing stemmed from an escalating dispute between two groups and asked the public to look for a newer-model black SUV seen fleeing west on 7th Avenue.
The shooting unfolded across several downtown blocks. Investigators traced the attack as beginning along the 2100 block of River Drive near 23rd Street, continuing near 19th Street, and ending behind City Hall at 7th Avenue and 16th Street, where Corey A. Harrell Jr.'s vehicle came to a stop. The path of gunfire, the morning hour, and the location, steps from City Hall and across from the police station, lent the crime a jarring, public urgency from the start.
In the years that followed, detectives pressed for tips and, in October 2021, publicly named three men as persons of interest they believed could have “significant information” about what happened: Alonzo Cole of Rock Island, Thomas Elijah-Hughes of East Moline, and Preston Orr of Rock Island.
Police renewed their request for details about the trio's whereabouts and associations around October 31, 2018, and again highlighted the suspected involvement of a black SUV.
Despite periodic surges in attention, memorial walks by family and friends, and rewards that have risen as high as $20,000 to encourage witnesses to come forward, no arrests have been made.
As recently as late 2023 and into 2025, authorities reiterated that the case remains open and that they are still seeking information capable of meeting the burden of proof for charges. The 22 year old Corey A. Harrell Jr.'s killing, carried out on a bright morning in the heart of Moline, remains an open wound and an unresolved case.
