Evan David Taylor was 19 and a full-time Shepherd University student when he was shot and killed before dawn on February 13, 2026, at University Heights Apartments on Hensel Drive in Shepherdstown. Jefferson County deputies responded after a 3:38 a.m. call reporting Taylor inside an apartment with multiple gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses reported a person fleeing on foot. Shepherd University campus police tracked an individual matching that description on surveillance cameras across university property to the H Lot parking area, where officers detained the person and recovered a loaded Glock handgun. Authorities identified and later charged Travis Darneil Smith with murder; public booking records list a MURDER-1 charge dated February 13, 2026. Officials did not publicly disclose a motive, and reporting did not establish whether the two knew one another or what occurred inside the apartment before the shooting.

Taylor’s family remembered him for his devotion to family and friends, wide sporting interests and hopes to study abroad. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office described the matter as an active investigation and asked anyone with information to contact investigators.