In the early hours of December 29, 2022, 25-year-old Darnell Appling was found shot to death in a parking lot in the 1000 block of North Watkins in Memphis, Tennessee. Appling sustained multiple gunshot wounds. He was a father of two and worked as an apprentice electrician.

Investigators quickly focused on a threatening Facebook message sent to Appling from a user named KashStMack that said, Put your on a leash before something happens to you. Appling’s mother provided screenshots, and police linked the account to 24-year-old Lamarcus Smith. Appling and Smith had been friends for four years, but their relationship had deteriorated after Appling began dating Smith’s ex-girlfriend.

Smith turned himself in on unrelated aggravated assault warrants on January 9, 2023, and admitted the KashStMack account was his. He initially denied involvement in the shooting and gave an alibi that was contradicted by his girlfriend, who told police Smith stole her gun and later confessed to using it to shoot Appling. A search of the girlfriend’s home turned up two Taurus 9mm handguns, the same type of weapon used in the killing. Smith was charged with first-degree murder and held without bond.

Did anyone in the neighborhood or who knew Darnell notice any signs of escalating conflict between him and Lamarcus Smith before December 29?