On the evening of December 7, 2022, a targeted robbery attempt in Knoxville turned fatal for 40-year-old Demetrius Bomar. Two men approached a home on Lansing Avenue and confronted Lamar Harshaw; the situation escalated and moved to a residence on Lay Avenue, where both Harshaw and Bomar were shot by the assailants. Each victim tried to flee in separate vehicles and reached the intersection of Brooks Avenue and Biddle Street, where responding officers found them and rushed them to UT Medical Center. Bomar was pronounced dead at the hospital; Harshaw was hospitalized in critical condition.

The Knoxville Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit led the investigation and later identified two suspects. In May 2023, 22-year-old Rodney Smartt and 24-year-old Ayla Gilbert were located and arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Smoky Mountain Fugitive Task Force. Smartt was found with a stolen firearm at the time of his arrest. Both faces multi-count indictments including first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, and especially aggravated kidnapping in connection with Bomar’s death.

Are there witnesses or neighbors who recall activity on Lansing, Lay, or Brooks Avenue that night who could add details to the timeline?