On the evening of March 20, 2023, at about 10 p.m., Amarillo police responded to gunshots reported near Southwest 2nd Avenue and South Tyler Street in downtown Amarillo. Officers found 38-year-old Leroy Boo Wells Jr. deceased from an apparent gunshot wound. Witnesses said a black SUV fled the scene immediately after the shooting.

Investigators recovered empty cartridge casings and a key ring with a gym membership and a Jeep key fob. The Jeep was registered to the girlfriend of 22-year-old Joseph Patrick Smith Jr. Officers located Smith and his girlfriend in a field near their apartment complex; Smith was carrying a Glock 23 .40 caliber handgun, which he later said he had hidden because he was a felon in California and could not possess firearms. Smith told police he shot Wells in self-defense after Wells allegedly approached his vehicle, threatened to overturn it, and damaged it by punching the windshield and passenger side. Searches of Smith’s apartment and the Jeep produced Glock .40 caliber magazines and burnt marijuana.

Smith was arrested, charged with murder, and a Potter County grand jury indicted him on May 19, 2023. His death was one of several homicides in Amarillo in 2023. Does anyone have information about the events that led up to the shooting or about Leroy Wells’ activities that night?