In the early morning hours of June 23, 2022, the body of 37-year-old Lloyd Trenton Stilwell was found lying face down in the 100 block of Stone Drive in Max Meadows, Virginia, with a gunshot wound to his chest. Authorities pronounced him dead at the scene and removed his body to the Roanoke Medical Examiner’s Office; no firearm was located nearby. Neighbors reported hearing a single gunshot the previous evening, around 9:30 p.m. on June 22.

The man who placed the initial 911 call, neighbor Kenneth Michael Sayers, became a person of interest after investigators detected multiple inconsistencies in his accounts. He first said he found Stilwell while walking his dog and described a vehicle leaving the scene, then changed his story repeatedly under questioning. Sayers later admitted being present when Stilwell was shot, gave a name and description of someone investigators had already cleared, and a search of his home on June 24 turned up ammunition.

Sayers ultimately confessed to killing Stilwell and was arrested on murder and ammunition-possession charges. He was held without bond at the New River Valley Regional Jail and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and the ammunition charge; a judge sentenced him in March 2024 to 28 years and 3 months in prison, followed by six years of probation upon release. Anyone with information about Stilwell, his movements on June 22–23, 2022, or who knew him is asked to share what they know.