On a September afternoon in 2015, the life of 31-year-old Roy Dell Smith, a male United States Army veteran, was cut short in a burst of gunfire. The shooting unfolded around 1:30 p.m. on September 24th in the 100 block of Kenwood Street in Hot Springs, Arkansas. When the violence ceased, Smith was gravely wounded and another man, Terry Elijah Crump, was injured. Emergency services rushed Smith to St. Vincent's Emergency Room, but he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Crump was treated for his injuries and later released.
Investigators processing the scene at the residence discovered evidence that pointed towards a confrontation rooted in illegal activities. The presence of bullet casings and marijuana paraphernalia suggested to authorities that the shooting was likely related to drugs and guns. The search for those responsible extended beyond Hot Springs as the investigation quickly identified suspects from Little Rock. The Garland County Sheriff's Department received a call about a man with a gunshot wound in a different part of town, on the 4900 block of East Grand. This individual, 24-year-old Ocoriye D. Wallace of Little Rock, was found with a gunshot wound to his shoulder and was subsequently taken to a hospital for treatment.
Wallace was soon identified as a suspect in the fatal shooting of Smith and was arrested on a capital murder warrant. The investigation also led to the arrest of 17-year-old Kameron Dreshawn Parker, also from Little Rock, who was charged as an adult with capital murder and held without bond. A third suspect, a juvenile from Little Rock, was also identified, and authorities collaborated with the Little Rock Police Department to locate and apprehend this individual. In May 2019, Ocoriye D. Wallace pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in connection with Smith's death and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Roy Dell Smith, a father to three children, was survived by his grandmother, two nephews, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
