James Earl Smothers was 26 and known to family and friends as Prince Semaj. He was described by those who knew him as playful, magnetic, devoted to his children, and active in his church and community in Saginaw, Michigan.

Shortly before dawn on Sunday, September 17, 2017, police were called to 29th and Norman Streets in Buena Vista Township, where a vehicle was found in a ditch. Smothers was inside with gunshot wounds and was taken to a hospital, where he died. Early reports characterized the incident as an early-morning shooting; investigators at the time were still trying to determine where the shots were fired and how the vehicle came to be off the road. No arrest or suspect identification was announced in those initial public reports.

Those who survived him included his children and an extended family who remembered his faith and the personal details of his life. Does anyone from Saginaw or Buena Vista Township have information about what happened that night?