On December 20, 2023, at about 5 p.m., 46-year-old Roderick Damon Butler was fatally shot on a sidewalk in the 2200 block of McKinney Avenue in Uptown Dallas, Texas. The shooting occurred near a Wells Fargo branch in a busy area of restaurants, stores and offices; Butler, an Army veteran, was taken to Baylor Dallas Medical Center where he died. Family members described him as kind and considerate, an artist and rapper who had struggled with mental health issues and had experienced homelessness before recently moving into an apartment in Southeast Dallas. He was known to frequent Uptown, attending open mic events and other gatherings.

Dallas police initially called the shooting targeted and said the shooter fled toward Maple Avenue; investigators asked the public for tips and hoped local surveillance cameras would help. On December 26, 2023, police arrested 45-year-old Corey Antwon Thompson in connection with Butler’s murder; Thompson was charged with murder and held in the Dallas County Jail on $1.25 million bond. Authorities disclosed Thompson had prior aggravated assault convictions and had been out on bond on unrelated charges at the time of Butler’s death.

Does anyone who knew Roderick or who was in Uptown Dallas that evening have information to share?