On February 20, 2023, at about 2:25 p.m., Sanford officers responded to a shooting at 218 Simmons Street where two people were found with gunshot wounds. Seventy-two-year-old Joseph Thomas JT Smith and 19-year-old Ty'Shawn Anthony Smith were taken to Central Carolina Hospital. Joseph Smith died of his injuries; Ty'Shawn Smith suffered a leg wound and was expected to recover. Witnesses saw a silver or gray sedan leaving the scene, and police are looking for that vehicle and its occupants. No arrests have been made and the case remains unsolved.

Joseph Thomas Smith, known as JT, was born April 10, 1950, in Sanford. He attended W.B. Wicker School, worked at Lee County Hospital while in school, later at Saco Lowell, and then for the City of Sanford until health problems prompted his retirement. He was remembered as a humble, God-fearing man who shared words of faith and prayer.

Does anyone have information about the silver or gray sedan or the people who left 218 Simmons Street that afternoon?