Late on the night of April 29, 2021, a verbal dispute in the hallway of an apartment complex at 55 N. 5th Ave. in Tucson turned deadly. Police responding around 11:30 p.m. found 57-year-old Andre Michael Lee inside an apartment with gunshot trauma; he was pronounced dead at the scene. The man Lee had been arguing with fled immediately after the shooting.

Detectives from the Tucson Police Department investigated for about two weeks and identified a suspect who was already held in the Pima County Jail on unrelated charges. On May 13, 2021, 41-year-old Ryan Cornelius Smith was charged with one count of first-degree murder in connection with Lee’s death. The homicide unit’s investigation remains ongoing.

If anyone saw activity in that apartment complex on the night of April 29 or has information about the dispute, please come forward.