In the small city of Cairo, Georgia, a life was tragically cut short on January 7, 2017. E’Lisha Den’Zel Smith, a 25-year-old African American male, was fatally shot on 7th Street in an incident that would lead to a multi-state search for the man responsible. The events that unfolded stemmed from a dispute over money, culminating in a violent confrontation that ended a young man's life.
The investigation into the death of E’Lisha Smith, conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Cairo Police Department, quickly pointed to a suspect: Nicholas Lequinte Perry, who was 21 years old at the time. Authorities determined that a fight broke out between Perry and Smith concerning money that was owed. During this altercation, Perry brandished a firearm and shot Smith, inflicting the fatal wound. Following the shooting, Perry fled the scene, prompting law enforcement to issue warrants for his arrest on charges of murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The search for Perry extended beyond the borders of Georgia. Six days after the fatal shooting, on January 13, 2017, he was located and apprehended in Tallahassee, Florida. The U.S. Marshals task force, in conjunction with Tallahassee law enforcement, tracked Perry down after he made a call from a blocked number to an acquaintance in Clearwater, Florida. He was then taken into custody and subsequently held in the Mitchell County Jail.
In the months that followed, the legal process began to unfold. In April 2017, Nicholas Lequinte Perry appeared in Grady County State Court for a bond hearing. Despite the serious nature of the felony murder charge against him, Perry was granted a $110,000 bond. The conditions of his release were stringent, requiring him to be under a total lockdown at his parents' residence, with exceptions only for meetings with his attorney. Furthermore, he was explicitly barred from having any contact with the family of E’Lisha Smith or any witnesses in the case and was ordered to stay away from the 200 block of 7th Street, the scene of the tragic incident.
