Quincy Smothers, 23, was found dead on the roadway at Michigan Avenue and Monroe Street in Gulfport, Mississippi, on the night of July 9, 2020. First responders initially treated the scene as a motorcycle crash, but investigators determined Smothers had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and concluded it was a targeted killing. Known to friends and family as Smook, he played football at Harrison Central High School and had started a lawn care business at age 12.

Gulfport Police identified Samuel M. Bridges as a suspect after a witness named him and led officers to the firearm, and investigators reported finding Bridges’ DNA at the scene. Police said the slaying was connected to wider criminal activity, including drug trafficking and gang-related violence. Bridges was arrested and charged in Smothers’ death.

At sentencing in July 2022, Samuel Maurice Bridges pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Smothers’ death and to a separate 2019 armed robbery; Circuit Court Judge Randi P. Mueller imposed a combined 40-year prison term and noted the loss experienced by both families.

Did anyone who knew Quincy or who was in that part of Gulfport on July 9, 2020, see or hear anything that could still help clarify what led to the shooting?