In late January 2017, 40-year-old Donald Donnie Hiram Smallwood was shot to death at his mobile home in the Texarkana Mobile Home Park on Terrace Plaza in the Liberty-Eylau area. Deputies arrived about 7:00 p.m. to find Donnie lying face down in the doorway with multiple gunshot wounds to his head and body; life-saving efforts failed and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Donnie’s cousin, 36-year-old Randall Lloyd Foster, arrived at the home that evening and an altercation erupted. Donnie’s wife reported hearing her husband plead with Foster to stop pointing a gun at him, then multiple gunshots and a final fatal shot as she moved to the kitchen. Foster fled to a relative’s home in Maud, Texas, where law enforcement surrounded the residence and, after about an hour and communication with his father, he surrendered around 9:30 p.m.; a Ruger 9 mm pistol was recovered.

During questioning, Foster allegedly confessed and gave two motives: longstanding resentment over being introduced to methamphetamine by Donnie and a belief that Donnie had acted inappropriately with his wife while Foster was incarcerated. A Bowie County grand jury later indicted Foster on first-degree murder. Does anyone have information about Donnie’s life in Texarkana or the days leading up to the shooting?