Alfred Smart, a 24-year-old Black man, was killed in the early hours of December 5, 2021, on the 2800 block of Vaughn Plaza Road near the Vaughn Plaza shopping center in Montgomery, Alabama. Police were called about 1:15 a.m.; officers found Smart shot at the scene and he was pronounced dead. Two other men were wounded in the same incident and survived with non-life-threatening injuries.

Investigators moved quickly to identify suspects. On December 15, 2021, Montgomery police charged 23-year-old Jamie Williams of Montgomery with murder in connection with Smart’s death; public reports said the U.S. Marshals were involved in Williams’s arrest. On January 5, 2022, police announced a second arrest, charging 21-year-old Kentarius Stephens with murder and attempted murder tied to the Vaughn Plaza Road shooting. Public updates did not provide detailed accounts of what prosecutors allege happened in the moments before the shooting or how responsibility was divided between the two defendants.

If anyone witnessed the shooting on Vaughn Plaza Road or has information about Alfred Smart that could help, please come forward.