City police today appealed to the public for help in solving the Jan. 2 killing of Hezikah Wilson, the 38-year-old autistic man fatally shot while letting out the family dog.

Wilson lived with his mother in the 5600 block of Plymouth Rd. in Northeast Baltimore and is the brother of a city police officer, and investigators have no leads in the case, Det. Jeremy Silbert said. He was wearing slippers and had only stepped out for a moment, and nothing was taken from him:

"Hezikah Wilson III didn't have an enemy in the world.

He didn't have friends, either. Aside from running an occasional errand, the 38-year-old autistic man rarely left the house he shared with his diabetic mother in Northeast Baltimore. He made sure she took her medication, and prepared her meals.

He also let the dog out, something he was doing Sunday night when someone shot him in the shoulder and killed him."

Police say they need the public's help to spark new leads in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 410-396-2100.

It's been a rough start to the year in general, with police making arrests in just one of the 15 killings so far in 2011, though a handful of cases from last year have been closed in recent weeks.