On the evening of April 2, 2016, 31-year-old Kevin Smith was fatally shot in Detroit, Michigan. A father of two, Smith was sitting in his blue 1998 Jeep Cherokee at the intersection of Roselawn Street and the John C. Lodge Service Drive on the city's west side when an unknown individual shot him at approximately 9:20 p.m. His family later recounted that he had been on the phone with someone before leaving his home around 9 p.m., telling his live-in girlfriend he would be back shortly to go to
work with her.
Concern grew when Smith did not return as expected. His girlfriend realized he was still not home when she woke up at midnight. In the early morning hours, at around 3 a.m., the police contacted Smith's mother to deliver the devastating news of his death. Smith, a graduate of Weston Technical Academy, had attended Wayne County Community College and Baker College to study computer engineering. He was in the process of renovating a home for himself and his two children, a 13-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son, and was also focused on starting a cleaning business. In his spare time, he was known to participate in rap battles under the name 'Kontraband Kev.'
Years after his death, Kevin Smith's murder remains unsolved, and his family continues to seek answers. Despite the passage of time, no suspects have been publicly identified, and no arrests have been made in connection with the shooting. Law enforcement officials and Crime Stoppers of Michigan have offered rewards for any information that leads to an arrest in the case, hoping to bring closure to his grieving family. The investigation into the homicide is ongoing.
