Adam Watson was 30 when he was found dead in his SUV on the evening of October 19, 2019, in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He had been a finance student at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and was remembered for his academic ambitions. Investigators say he sustained fatal gunshot wounds during what they describe as a robbery that went wrong.

Police moved quickly after the discovery. Within a day detectives, citing witness statements and evidence from the scene on Grand Avenue, identified and took into custody a 17-year-old male. Authorities said they were not searching for any other suspects. Investigators reported Watson had arranged to meet people for a marijuana transaction that was a setup; the teenager named in reports, Kennith Anthony Dewayne Thomas, allegedly fired multiple shots into Watson’s vehicle while Thomas and three friends attempted to steal the drugs. Thomas was charged with murder.

If anyone knew Adam, was with him that night, or has information about the meeting on Grand Avenue, please come forward.