Group criticizes authorities.

Byline: Karl Fischer, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

Dec. 21--NORTH RICHMOND -- A homicide victim lay undiscovered on Fifth Street for several hours Tuesday morning before neighbors found him a few paces from his grandmother's door. While authorities have not yet determined when 24-year-old Curtis Evans died, the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office did receive a 911 call reporting gunfire the previous evening, about seven hours before the homicide investigation began.

"We received a call about 1 a.m., someone hearing shots" up the street, said Lt. Donny Gordon of the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office. "The deputy who responded did not find anything at …