On the morning of December 17, 2021, Dawn Peterson was killed outside her home in South Jamaica, Queens, after stepping out just before dawn to start her car and head to work. She was found on the street near her address on Foch Boulevard, badly wounded, and rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.Investigators quickly focused on what nearby cameras captured: a lone figure in dark clothing closing in as Peterson stood by her vehicle. In the footage described by police and local reporting, the gunman raises a firearm and fires repeatedly, striking her in the chest and back and continuing even after she falls to the roadway. Crime scene investigators recovered evidence at the location, including seven shell casings, and authorities reported that the shooter ultimately got away in a silver sedan after the attack.Inside the house, her mother, Janifer Taylor, was jolted awake by gunfire and ran to the window, recognizing the shape in the street before the morning had fully broken. Friends and neighbors gathered in grief as word spread through the block, and the killing drew an immediate response from homicide detectives, with the Queens District Attorney appearing at the scene as the investigation began.