Sims had spent the night out with friends. One of their stops was the Captain’s Chest Cocktail Lounge in Concord, Calif., where Sims sang a karaoke rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

At some point, Sims made his way back toward Richmond, stopping at the Capri Club, a pool hall just outside of town.

Details of what happened next are murky, but authorities say a fight broke out inside. Three men beat Sims, robbed him, then shot him as he tried to escape, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office. Just after 2 a.m., a sergeant found Sims lying on the street nearby and performed CPR. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Sims was black. The three alleged attackers were white.

One suspect, Daniel Porter-Kelly, 31, has been arrested and charged with murder and robbery, with a racially-motivated hate crime enhancement. The other two, 32-year-old Ray Simons and 31-year-old Daniel Ortega, were at large as of Monday morning, wanted for robbery and murder, according to the sheriff’s office. Ortega’s mother, Renee Brown, was arrested on suspicion of interfering with the investigation and held on $500,000 bail, the sheriff’s office said.

Sims’s family is struggling to make sense of the young man’s death. His father, Bill Sims, described his son as a kind, loving person who was never involved in any violence.

“It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. He was not aggressive,” Bill Sims told the Chronicle. “He was always trying to befriend people, maybe to a fault.”

The sheriff’s office, too, said Sims had no criminal record or “gang ties.”

James Harris, a friend and family spokesman, called him “quiet, unassuming, yet humorous,” and said his relatives were shocked that anyone would want to harm him.

“This was the most peaceful man,” Harris told the East Bay Times. “A very gentle soul. He didn’t have any problems with anyone.”

Representatives from the sheriff’s office have told local media that they believe the attack was racially motivated, but have not elaborated.

On Saturday, Richmond, Calif., Mayor Tom Butt also suggested Sims was targeted because of his race.

“I urge Richmond residents to maintain our city’s values of respect and care for one another, especially during a time when we are experiencing a nationwide surge in hate-filled hostility and threats to public safety,” Butt said. “Racism, bigotry, discrimination, and all other forms of hatred and oppression have no place in our city.”

Sims’s death came several days after the presidential election, as reports of hate crimes and harassment spiked across the country. The day before Sims was killed, the Southern Poverty Law Center had recorded 201 incidents of election-related harassment and intimidation, more than 50 of them described by the organization as “anti-black.”

An attorney for Porter-Kelly, the suspect in custody, said Sims’s death had “nothing to do with a hate crime.” In an interview with The Washington Post, Colin Cooper said his client was at the pool hall the night Sims was killed, but was not there when Sims was beaten and shot. He said police and prosecutors have yet to turn over any information connecting Porter-Kelly to the incident.

“It’s baffling to me. If you’re going to charge some young kid with murder and a hate crime, the Constitution and due process require that the prosecutors tell somebody what it is based on,” Cooper told The Post, adding that Porter-Kelly had no criminal record. “Mr. Porter-Kelly has nothing to do with this.”

Representatives from the sheriff’s office and the Contra Costa district attorney’s office were not immediately available for comment on Monday. It was not clear if the other suspects had retained attorneys.

Friends described Sims as an accomplished musician who was self-taught on piano, guitar, saxophone and violin. He sang in a vocal ensemble and played with a group called Jazz-ology that performed at festivals in the region and had won multiple awards, according to the East Bay Times.

“I think the music world will not be the same without him,” Stephanie Rios, a member of the group, told the Chronicle. “There’s many of us musicians who make the music about ourselves. And this is something you can’t say about him. Will never made the music about himself. He always made the music about music.”

Brett Murphy said he was hanging out with Sims at the Captain’s Chest Cocktail Lounge the night he died. He said Sims was his best friend.

“Will was an amazing human being,” Murphy told the Chronicle. “He cared for and helped others any chance he got. He always wanted others to be as happy and have as much fun as he was. He made friends with everyone.”