Nineteen-year-old Jahnari Esco Smith was fatally shot in the early morning hours of January 9, 2024, at The Hills at Greenbriar apartments on Campbellton Road in Atlanta. Officers found Smith in the driver’s seat of a black Nissan Altima that had crashed into a building after sustaining a gunshot wound; he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators say Smith had arranged to meet someone at the complex to sell marijuana. An acquaintance who went with him reported Smith had been nervous beforehand. Surveillance footage captured five people waiting in the parking lot; as Smith drove in, three of them moved to the driver’s side and opened fire. The car then struck a parked vehicle before hitting an apartment, and all five suspects fled.

Nineteen-year-old Michael Stephens was arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault in connection with the shooting. Records note Smith and Stephens had met in Fulton County Jail in June prior; the shooting is believed to have resulted from a botched drug deal.

Did anyone in the area see the Altima arrive or the people who ran from the scene?