Joshua Reed Paige, 26, was shot dead in the early morning of April 11, 2021, outside a residence on Southside Boulevard in Beaufort, South Carolina. Police found him with a fatal gunshot wound and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Reports place the discovery shortly after 6 a.m., with the time of death noted as 4:30 a.m.

Investigators say this began with a verbal dispute the previous evening between Paige and 34-year-old Paul Washington Jr., reportedly over a past relationship. Police allege that two other men, Baron Brown-Lights, 28, and Isaac Lamont Smalls Jr., 33, lured Paige to his uncle’s home on the pretense of a drug deal. While Paige was inside a vehicle with Brown-Lights, someone emerged from nearby woods and opened fire. Cellphone tracking data is reported to have placed the suspects in the area at the time.

Approximately four months later, authorities arrested all three men; Washington was charged with murder and Brown-Lights and Smalls Jr. were charged with criminal conspiracy to commit murder. Paige’s family described him as a devoted father and outgoing, noting he had lost a brother to a brain aneurysm 11 months earlier. If anyone knew Joshua, his movements that night, or has information about the shooting, please come forward.