On the morning of February 18, 2018, 37-year-old Tavon Purnell Matthews was found in a bedroom of an Oak Manor Drive residence in Waldorf, Maryland, suffering from a gunshot wound to his torso. Emergency personnel took him to a nearby hospital but he was pronounced dead soon after. The Charles County Sheriff’s Office identified the shooting as arising from a domestic dispute with Matthews’ girlfriend, 31-year-old Tiffany Jade Smith, who lived at the home.

Investigators say Smith’s statements about the incident changed over time; she initially denied knowledge, later said she thought the gun was a BB gun, and eventually admitted taking a real firearm from Matthews. A witness initially hid a Ruger 9mm in woods behind the residence and then led detectives to it. Smith was arrested and charged in connection with the shooting and held without bond as the case moved through the courts.