In the quiet community of Rocky Mount, Virginia, the life of 59-year-old Denny Lawless Smith was abruptly ended on a Sunday afternoon, March 15, 2020. A male resident of the town, Smith was tragically found deceased inside his home located on Virgil Goode Highway. The cause of his untimely death was determined to be a gunshot wound, a violent conclusion to a life that had been rooted in the local community.
Responding to a 911 call that afternoon, deputies from the Franklin County
Sheriff's Office, along with Virginia State Police and Franklin County Public Safety, arrived at the residence to a grim scene. Inside, they discovered Smith's body, and the investigation into his death commenced immediately. The initial stages of the inquiry quickly led to a person of interest who was present at the location.
At the scene of the discovery, law enforcement officials took 55-year-old Gregory Kendrick, also a resident of Rocky Mount, into custody. Following the on-site investigation, Kendrick was arrested and subsequently charged with second-degree murder in connection with Denny Smith's death. He was transported to the Franklin County Jail, where he was held without bond. The swift arrest brought a suspect into the legal process, though the full story of the events that transpired in the house on that March afternoon would await further judicial proceedings.
