Jeffrey Cotton died in a crowd, shot in the back with at least 50 people around him outside a club August of last year.

“I’ve learned nobody wants to step and do the right thing,” said Lieutenant Bobby Martin of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office. “I’ve learned this code on the street of not snitching is overrated. If I didn’t say anything I would be ridiculed. It’s as if we have no value for human life.”

From all the training footage and classes Martin has viewed during his career, it is inevitable when someone pulls out a gun in a crowd someone will notice it. “I feel like someone saw an individual had a gun. At this point you can’t rule anything out.”

Martin tends to lean to the theory Cotton was purposefully shot but why is the big question.

The club on Highway 158 was filled with groups of people from Northampton County, Weldon and Littleton, Martin said. “Jeffery Cotton was a brother and a son. He was in the prime of his life. Everyone we talked to said Jeffery was a good kid.”

While his brother has been arrested in the October 28 Subway robbery, Martin said, “Through my years of law enforcement, until going to the club I hadn’t heard his name as far as law enforcement is concerned.”

One angle Martin is looking at is a possible link between Cotton’s murder and two recent murders in the Northampton County town of Seaboard. “At this point it’s a possibility or it could be totally unrelated. I’m exploring information that comes in.”

Whatever the motive, Martin believes gang activity played a part. “We have a gang problem in Halifax County. We have a drug problem.”

The scene at the club that night was a summer dance and birthday party for one of Cotton’s brothers.

There was music and dancing and then trouble erupted when somebody from one of the groups apparently touched someone from another group’s girlfriend. “It got heated inside and some moved to the outside,” Martin said. “Unfortunately, Mr. Cotton was outside when the fight broke out.”

Whoever had the gun knows they shot someone, Martin said. “I do have an idea. I need for someone to step up and do the right thing and help a grieving family get closure. I need the person that pulled the trigger and caused Jeffery Cotton’s death to step up.”

Anyone with information is encouraged to call Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444 or Martin at 252-593-1018.