Adrian Terrell Smith was a 29-year-old Black man from Asheville who was killed during a violent home invasion on the night of April 3, 2020. Around 11:20 p.m. officers responded to Pisgah View Apartments and found two men who had been shot. Smith died at the scene; a 39-year-old man was taken to Mission Hospital with critical injuries.

Investigators say two armed individuals entered through a back door and opened fire. Surveillance footage was used to follow the suspects’ movements arriving at and fleeing the building. Arrests followed quickly: on April 10 a 29-year-old, Tyran Dewayne Burton, was charged with aiding and abetting first-degree murder. On April 13 police identified Dajour Johahaun McDay and Sherwayne Akeem Bascom as additional suspects; McDay surrendered the next day and was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and possession of a firearm by a felon. Bascom was located later outside the state, and a woman, Shanice Sheronda McDay, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for accessory after the fact.

Several questions remain about motive and the sequence of events inside the apartment; anyone with information about what led to the shooting or who was involved is asked to come forward.