On February 25, 2023, at about 3 a.m. Smithfield police found 30-year-old Tyler Jordan Davis dead of a gunshot wound behind the Little Caesar’s Pizza at 1202 N. Brightleaf Blvd. Davis, a Princeton, North Carolina resident born February 8, 1993, was reported to have been homeless at the time and is survived by his parents and sisters; private services were planned.

Authorities arrested 22-year-old Lamore Thomas of Selma and charged him with first-degree murder. Police say the two men did not know each other before the incident and describe the shooting as an isolated event with no ongoing threat to the community. Thomas was held without bond in the Johnston County Jail pending an initial court appearance while investigators work to determine a possible motive.

If anyone knew Tyler, his recent plans, or saw activity behind Little Caesar’s that early morning, please share information with the Smithfield Police Department.