Family, friends of Richfield man still searching for answers 4 years after his drive-by shooting death

As a guitarist gently strummed a tune, family and friends of Jonathan O’Shaughnessy gathered to reflect on his life cut short.

“Today is the fourth anniversary of Jonathan’s unsolved murder,” his mother, Cynthia Kuntz, said. “This is the spot where it actually happened, where he was shot and killed.”

The gathering marks a day of heartbreak: July 3, 2017.

O’Shaughnessy was walking home with family members from a community dance.

Witnesses told police around 11:15 p.m., a minivan pulled up to the curb at 64th Street and Fourth Avenue South.

A door opened, and then it happened.

“The driver said, ‘We’re going to kill you,’ and shots rang out and got Jonathan. He died quickly,” Kuntz told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS in 2018.

Arriving officers found the 24-year-old lying in the street. He’d been shot twice and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Now, she says, “We feel frustrated and angry and hopeless. These are the emotions we feel every day."

O’Shaughnessy’s family says there have been few answers in the four years since.

"Would you not want to know who killed your child or if you know somebody who did it or your child did it?” Kuntz said. “Wouldn’t you say something?"

They’ve offered a $50,000 reward for information, hoping someone will come forward.

"The guilt’s got to be killing somebody and that’s why we keep trying to be out there,” said Brian O’Shaughnessy, Jonathan’s father. “At some point, somebody’s conscience will get to them, and we’ll get some answers."

Each year, the family, neighbors and friends meet to honor and remember Jonathan O’Shaughnessy.

"It’s been a very hard four years,” Kuntz told the group.

They decorate the area around a bench that’s now a permanent marker, near where O’Shaughnessy lost his life.

The bench itself has a plaque, with a message which reads: “Dillis don deireath,” Gaelic for “Loyal to the end.”

"Jonathan was 24 years old, in the prime of his life,” Kuntz said. “He was starting a new job, he had an apartment. He loved everybody, and he did nothing wrong.”

Police say the case remains open, but add there are no new developments.

Anyone with information is asked to call Richfield Police.

Meanwhile, O’Shaughnessy’s parents are holding onto hope that this year will be the year they get answers.

"There are so many emotions we go through that we’ve lost a child, no matter how old they are,” Kuntz said. “We are waiting for answers still. Our new motto is, ‘Answers for Jonathan and justice for Jonathan.’"