Eddie Cortez Smith, 40, was fatally shot on October 17, 2018, on the sidewalk outside Born’s Bar on Rice Street in St. Paul. The shooting happened about 11 p.m. after an altercation between Smith and another man, Dewayne Anthony Ivory, 31. Smith was taken to Regions Hospital and died shortly after arriving.

Ivory, who lives in Forest Lake, was arrested at the scene; he called 911 and was found there with two handguns. Police say Smith and Ivory knew each other, but the exact nature of their relationship is unclear. Ivory was booked at the Ramsey County jail on suspicion of murder; by the following Friday no charges had been filed and he was released early Saturday due to the charging deadline.

Smith had been released from prison a little over a year earlier after serving time for a 2010 vehicular homicide. Friends and family remembered him as a protector who held his family together. Does anyone who knew Eddie or who was near Born’s Bar that night have information that could help investigators?