Samara Smith was 35 years old when she was killed in Atlanta on Tuesday, February 21, 2012. The Atlanta Police Department investigated her death, and the Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in Atlanta from 2007 through 2017, lists it as a homicide that remained open with no arrest.
Beyond her name, her age and the date of her death, almost nothing about Samara Smith has been made public.
No news story about the killing, obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this account. She surely had family, friends and neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say how she was killed, exactly where it happened, whether she knew the person responsible, or whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital. It does not say whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Her age and sex stand out. Most homicide victims in Atlanta in those years were men, and a woman of 35 would likely have had close family, friends, co-workers or children who noticed quickly when something was wrong. She was killed on a Tuesday in late February.
Samara Smith is also a common name. Searches for it are dominated by other people who share it, which makes it harder to find any trace of the woman who died in Atlanta in 2012 and may help explain why her story has been so hard to follow. Searches also turn up a young woman of the same name from the Augusta area who died in a hospital a week earlier in February 2012, and a different Samara Smith in a 2024 Mississippi case; neither is connected to the woman who died in Atlanta.
Her name could not be found on the online cold-case listings that carry many unsolved Atlanta killings from those years, and no family appeal, memorial page or anniversary post about her turned up.
The location recorded in the Post's database places her death in northwest Atlanta, on the city's Westside. People who lived or worked in that area in February 2012 may remember Samara Smith, and may remember the police activity that followed her death.
Atlanta, the capital of Georgia and the center of a metro area of more than 5 million people, recorded roughly 75 to 130 homicides a year between 2007 and 2017. Most victims in those years were young men, and most were killed with guns. Many killings from those years never led to an arrest, and the Washington Post's 2018 investigation counted Atlanta among the cities with large numbers of unsolved homicides. Cases with few public details, like her, often faded from view quickly.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Samara Smith could be found in news archives or public records. More than 14 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Samara Smith, who saw her in February 2012, or who heard talk afterward of what happened to her, may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a car seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Atlanta Police Department Homicide Unit at 404-546-4235, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS (404-577-8477), which may pay a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest.
