Jacob Aldridge was 19 when he was shot in Roanoke on the night of July 10, 2018. He was behind the wheel of his Mercedes on the 1600 block of Eastern Avenue NE around 10 p.m. when he was struck by a bullet in the back of his head. The car crashed and he was found alone inside; he was taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in critical condition and died on the morning of July 12, 2018. The Roanoke City Police Department treated the case as a homicide.

Investigators recovered a trail of nearly twenty bullet casings leading from a nearby house to Aldridge’s car. Search warrants at that residence turned up drugs, scales, cash, and firearms; officers also found drugs inside Aldridge’s vehicle. A number of people were detained and later released soon after the shooting. Authorities said the house had been the site of a fatal home invasion the previous Thanksgiving but did not believe the incidents were related.

In September 2019 the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the arrest of Aaron Woods on allegations that he led a major marijuana operation run from the Eastern Avenue home. Prosecutors tied that drug operation to the circumstances of Aldridge’s death, saying the shooting occurred after Aldridge attempted to flee a violent drug deal. Does anyone have information about the events on Eastern Avenue that night or about Jacob’s movements before he arrived there?