In the early morning hours of March 4, 2020, gunfire rang out in the 300 block of Summit Road in Danville, Virginia. Responding officers found 40-year-old Melvin Wayne Smith in his front yard with apparent gunshot wounds; emergency personnel pronounced him dead at the scene. His body was sent to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Roanoke for autopsy.

Investigators treated the shooting as targeted rather than random and canvassed the neighborhood for witnesses and evidence. Police arrested 29-year-old Ladarius Tomas Jeffries of Danville on unrelated charges the same day; Jeffries was later charged by the Danville Police Department and the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office with second-degree murder in Smith’s death and was being held in the Danville City Jail without bond. The investigation remained ongoing as authorities continued to develop leads.

If anyone saw activity on Summit Road that night or has information about this case, please share what is known with investigators.