On the evening of Wednesday, February 22, 2023, a quadruple homicide occurred at a home on Melanie Loop in the Lake Forest subdivision of Daphne, Alabama. Victims found in the backyard included 71-year-old Shelia Glover, described as a longtime friend and considered family at the Smith household, along with Barbara Smith, 72, and her grandson Jeremy Smith, 27. Inside the residence was Barbara’s husband, Leonard Smith, 80. All four had been shot and bludgeoned.

Law enforcement identified and arrested 21-year-old Jared Tarant Smith-Bracy, the grandson of Barbara and Leonard and brother of Jeremy, in a wooded area near the home soon after the killings. Authorities say Smith-Bracy had been arrested earlier that day on a minor criminal mischief charge, was bonded out, and returned to the house in a friend’s vehicle; police allege the friend’s gun was used in the murders. He pleaded not guilty by reason of mental defect at arraignment in February 2023 and a mental evaluation was ordered; a Mobile County Grand Jury later indicted him on four counts of capital murder in May 2024. Reports suggest an argument over household chores may have preceded the violence, but no definitive motive has been released.

Did anyone in the Lake Forest community see or hear anything on the evening of February 22 that could help explain what happened?