Wade Shaquille Vaughns-Smith, 20, was killed on February 15, 2022, in Melville, Louisiana. Deputies responded after calls reporting gunshots and then a vehicle on fire on Highway 105. They found a burning vehicle and Vaughns-Smith unresponsive; another man, James Preston Allen Vaughn, was located nearby with injuries and taken to a hospital.

Investigators tied the violence to jealousy. Vaughns-Smith and Vaughn were regular customers at a gas station where the girlfriend of one of the suspects worked, and their interactions reportedly angered her boyfriend. Two men were arrested: Jaden Michael Ardoin, 18 at the time, was charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, and Jaiman Maurice Mason was charged as a principal for allegedly being with Ardoin before and after the incident and for not reporting the murder.

Both Ardoin and Mason pleaded guilty to involvement in Vaughns-Smith’s death; families were awaiting sentencing. Does anyone have information about the night on Highway 105 or saw activity near the gas station before February 15, 2022?