The first involved 31-year-old James Lewis Markues Smith, a Black male who was found with gunshot wounds in a parking lot in the 5400 block of Massachusetts Avenue in Indianapolis during the early morning of November 6, 2021. He was taken to a hospital and later died; a funeral service was held on November 20, 2021, at Williams and Bluitt Funeral Home Peoples’ Chapel. As of early 2025, investigators had not publicly announced any arrests or identified suspects in that shooting and the case remained open.

The second entry describes a different James Smith, age 51, who was found unresponsive in his cell at the Marion County Jail on October 17, 2020, and was pronounced dead shortly after 1 a.m. Authorities believe he was stabbed with an improvised weapon by another inmate. He had been jailed since August 22, 2020, on two felony intimidation charges and had been moved between housing locations after incidents involving racially charged language; he was in a single cell when the fatal assault occurred. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department homicide office investigated that death.

If anyone has information about either incident or knew either man, please share what can help investigators.