A late-night drive on Madewood Drive in Donaldsonville ended in gunfire and a homicide. On July 5, 2022, about 2 a.m., 23-year-old Jacoby Smith and a 31-year-old companion had just dropped someone off when an unknown assailant or assailants opened fire on their vehicle. Smith suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was taken to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge; he died of his injuries on July 6, 2022. The companion was struck in the hand.

Investigators with the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office characterized the shooting as an attack on the pair rather than an exchange between them. No motive had been established and no suspects were identified in the immediate aftermath. The violence left Smith’s family and the community seeking answers.

If anyone has information about Jacoby Smith, his movements that night, or the people who may have been in that neighborhood, please share what is known.