On the evening of June 22, 2023, 43-year-old Joe Arnold Martin, a Black/African American man, was sitting in a vehicle on the 1600 block of Washington Street in Danville, Virginia, when someone fired multiple shots into the car at about 8:15 p.m. Danville officers found Martin with a critical gunshot wound; he was taken to SOVAH Health and pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Investigators identified 35-year-old Demetrius Agee Townes of Danville as the suspect after eyewitnesses and surveillance footage reportedly showed him exiting a Washington Street residence and firing at the vehicle. Officers say Townes had earlier filed a police report claiming Martin had taken his vehicle without permission, a dispute investigators believe may have been a motive. Townes was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony, and police said they were not seeking other suspects. The department held a H.E.A.R.T. Walk on Washington Street the next day to engage the community and provide support.

Does anyone in Danville have information about Martin, the dispute with Townes, or the events that evening?