On the morning of July 9, 2021, Herbert Brown, 40, was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in the driver’s seat of a gray 2007 Chevy Impala that was still running at 923 Raleigh Street in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Police say shots were heard earlier, around 1:17 a.m., and a witness reported seeing a Black male dressed in all black running from the area shortly after.

Investigators developed a suspect after speaking with two people who had been with Brown and another man that night. They identified 33-year-old Branford Antwan Lewis; witnesses said Lewis had been waving a gun earlier, and several silver shell casings were recovered near Brown’s vehicle. Lewis was located by Van Buren police, admitted being in the car but said he walked to a nearby McDonald’s after arriving; surveillance placed him running toward that parking lot soon after the reported gunfire. He was charged with first-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm and held on $500,000 bond. Brown Jr. was memorialized in a funeral service on July 17, 2021.

If anyone has information about Brown’s movements that night or about the person seen running from Raleigh Street, please come forward.