On the late afternoon of September 2, 2025, Regina Darlene Smith, 56, was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Family Dollar on Jeffersonville Road in Macon, Georgia. Just after 4:30 p.m., gunfire wounded Smith and a 79-year-old male companion inside their Nissan Rogue; deputies found Smith unresponsive and she was pronounced dead at the scene. The older man was taken to hospital in critical but stable condition.

Investigators identified 43-year-old Catrell Tywan Ford as the primary suspect and said the incident may have stemmed from a road rage confrontation after a vehicle accident near Ocmulgee East Boulevard and Jeffersonville Road. Ford fled but was located that evening; a foot pursuit led into woods and ended in an exchange of gunfire with deputies. Ford was fatally wounded and later died at a hospital; no officers were injured. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called to handle the officer-involved shooting.

Anyone who witnessed the earlier crash, the shooting at the Family Dollar, or the foot pursuit and wooded confrontation is asked to come forward with information.