Denita Monique Smith, 25, was shot in the back of the head and killed on January 4, 2007, as she left her apartment at Campus Crossing Apartments in Durham, North Carolina. A maintenance worker found her body and initially thought she had fallen; closer inspection showed she had been executed. Witnesses reported seeing a woman crying and running from the complex after gunfire; that woman was later identified as Shannon Crawley, who was seen driving away in a Ford Explorer.

Investigators uncovered that Denita, a graduate student at North Carolina Central University training to be a photojournalist, was engaged to Jermeir Stroud, a Greensboro police officer who was also involved romantically with Crawley. Crawley was arrested on January 9, 2007, charged with murder, and on February 22, 2010, found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. Denita’s parents publicly reacted to the verdict; Crawley’s family maintained her innocence while the defense suggested Stroud was responsible, though law enforcement said Stroud was never a suspect.

If anyone knew Denita, her movements that morning, or saw a Ford Explorer leaving the Campus Crossing area, please share what was seen or heard.