Dantez Smith was 18 when he was shot and killed in the early morning hours of June 22, 2019, on the 8100 block of Siear Terrace on Indianapolis’s south side. Officers found him in the street with a gunshot wound just after 3 a.m.; emergency personnel pronounced him dead at the scene. Reports say he had been at a party near the University of Indianapolis earlier that evening and had a tense encounter with someone there that was believed to relate to a prior incident.

Witness accounts indicate a vehicle with multiple occupants drove through the parking lot and shots were fired from the passenger side, striking Dantez. The homicide investigation remains open and unsolved; no arrests or public suspect identifications have been announced. IMPD Homicide Detective David Miller has said he interviewed a person whose account conflicts with the evidence and who has since been in and out of jail on unrelated charges.

Dantez’s family described him as a loving son, brother, and friend who loved basketball, dancing, and dreamed of playing football. If anyone has information about what happened that night, IMPD asks that they come forward.