Joseph Lanard James, a 44-year-old Black/African American man, was found with multiple gunshot wounds to his torso after deputies responded to the 2000 block of Smith Street near Shop Road in Columbia, South Carolina, shortly after 11 p.m. on May 12, 2018. First responders pronounced him dead at the scene.

Investigators focused on a suspect known to James. On May 15, 2018, Richland County Sheriff’s Department detectives arrested his estranged wife, 38-year-old Rhonda James, at her Smith Street residence and charged her with his murder; authorities said she was accused of shooting him in the upper body. Rhonda James had a prior conviction stemming from a December 25, 2016 arrest for criminal domestic violence that led to a third-degree assault and battery conviction.

Anyone with information about Joseph, his movements on May 12, 2018, or the events on Smith Street that night is asked to share what they know.