Detective Corporal Charles Eugene Smith II was 29 and assigned to the Beckley Police Department narcotics unit when he was fatally shot during an improvised undercover narcotics investigation in the early morning hours of August 29, 2006. What began as an evening out with fellow officer Corporal William Reynolds and later Smith’s girlfriend, Jasminda Gonzales, turned into attempts to locate a drug dealer. A man identified as Timothy Blackburn led them to an apartment area, and later Michael E. Martin arranged a cocaine transaction by phone with Thomas E. Leftwich.

Leftwich arrived carrying crack cocaine and a loaded Smith & Wesson .357 revolver. A short verbal confrontation ensued at the foot of a stairway; Reynolds and Gonzales testified that Smith displayed his badge. Leftwich admitted firing multiple rounds and Smith was struck four times, including a wound that perforated both lungs and damaged his heart.

Both were charged with first-degree murder. A jury convicted Martin at trial, but his convictions were overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia on November 23, 2009, because of prejudicial testimony; the decision ordered a new trial. The record describes convictions and life sentences for both men in later law-enforcement memorials. Did anyone who knew Charles, worked with him in Beckley’s narcotics unit, or recalls that night come forward with more details?