Police asking for public's help in unsolved OKC homicide

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - Oklahoma City police are trying to solve a mystery and they need help from the public. The request comes after a man was shot to death and found laying by his bike on the road December 5.

The Oklahoma City Police Department (OKCPD) said they got a "check-the-welfare" call in west Oklahoma City during the early-morning hours of December 5.

Police said at the time, officers thought they were responding to a crash involving a car and a person, but when they got there, it was a different scene.

"There was a person lying near the roadway, 6800 block of Northwest 10th Street, which is very close to Rockwell. When officers arrived, as it turns out, the person had been shot to death," said Gary Knight with the OKCPD.

The victim was identified as 38-year-old Ira Spells.

OKCPD said Spells was laying on the ground next to his bike.

Two weeks after the shooting, there are still questions about the case.

"The case remains unsolved. Initially, when investigators get a case like this, they do everything they can to piece the information and evidence together and hope that that leads to an arrest," said Knight.

So far, no arrest has been made.

Police hope this photo helps find out more on the deadly shooting. Spells is the man on the bike.

"There's a surveillance photo showing the victim with two other people just really shortly before he was killed. It's unclear what their role was, but we want to speak to them," said Knight.

News 4 got an email from Spells' stepmom who said they are having a memorial on Friday and hope the photo will give closure on her son's death.

If you know anything about the shooting or who the people in that photo are, give police a call.