On the humid evening of Thursday, June 26, 2025, the sound of a single gunshot cut through the air in the 200 block of North Virginia Avenue in Atlantic City. Just before 9 p.m., a 911 call alerted police to a man lying motionless on the sidewalk outside the Shore Park apartments. When officers arrived, they found 40-year-old Robert Stanley Davis, a male resident of the city, unresponsive with a gunshot wound to his head.
Despite the efforts of first responders, he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Southern Regional Medical Examiner's Office later confirmed that the cause of death was a gunshot wound and officially ruled it a homicide.
The Atlantic City Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit, in collaboration with the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office's Major Crimes Unit, immediately launched an investigation into the city's first homicide of the year. Their efforts led them to a suspect, 37-year-old Kelsey Smith, also a resident of Atlantic City. On Friday, July 11, 2025, just over two weeks after the shooting, Smith was arrested and charged with murder and unlawful possession of a weapon.
Further investigation revealed that shortly after the shooting, personnel in the city's Surveillance Center had alerted officers to two men dressed in black fleeing the area. While searching for these individuals, police encountered Smith, who was reportedly screaming loudly on his phone. Noticing a suspicious bulge in his jacket pocket, detectives approached him. According to reports, Smith then said, 'Kill me,' and attempted to pull away before being subdued. A pat-down revealed a defaced Cobra CA380 handgun. Smith, who has a prior criminal history, was taken into custody and now faces charges for the murder of Robert Stanley Davis.
