On January 16, 2023, at approximately midnight, 25-year-old Aveon Isaiah Collins-Smith was fatally shot while seated in his vehicle at The District at Tar River apartment complex in Greenville, North Carolina. After sustaining multiple gunshot wounds, including two to the torso and injuries to his right hand, Collins-Smith managed to drive approximately half a block before crashing into an occupied apartment at the corner of Oak Street and First Street.
Emergency responders transported him to ECU Health Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries. The apartment resident sustained non-life-threatening injuries due to the crash.
The investigation led to the arrest of a 16-year-old male suspect on January 18, 2023. Authorities apprehended the juvenile without incident at a Wendy's restaurant located at 3501 U.S. 264 in Greenville. Due to his age, the suspect's identity was withheld. Detectives believed the shooting was a targeted incident and continued to investigate the motive. Subsequently, on June 26, 2024, the suspect, identified as 18-year-old Jasiya Reynolds, pled guilty to second-degree murder and received a negotiated prison sentence of 20 to 25 years.
Further developments in the case emerged when, on August 2, 2023, detectives charged 22-year-old Russhad Gardner with an open count of murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in connection with Collins-Smith's death. At the time of the charges, Gardner was already incarcerated at the Pitt County Detention Center on unrelated charges. The new evidence that implicated Gardner was not detailed in the reports. The investigation into the motive behind the shooting remained ongoing, with authorities considering the possibility of additional arrests.
