Oak Ridge Police increase patrols in Scarboro neighborhood after block party shooting
The shooting occurred at a block party around S. Benedict Avenue in the early hours of May 25. Nine people were shot and one person was stabbed. All ten victims survived.
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Smith said in a statement to 6 News that the Oak Ridge Police Department has increased its presence in the Scarboro area in response. Officers are conducting regular drive-throughs and foot patrols in the area. Smith said the goal is to both deter further violence and engage with community members to build community trust.
ORPD command staff met with local faith and community leaders as well as NAACP members to discuss ongoing efforts and future steps.
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'We urge residents to speak with our officers—whether it's to share information, voice concerns, or simply to connect,' Smith said. 'Public safety is a shared responsibility, and we are here to reduce the incidence and fear of crime in Oak Ridge.'
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Indianapolis Star
8 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Court docs: IMPD Detectives had suspects' names all along throughout 2021 cold case
Ail Smith Jr.'s loved ones never understood how the business and family man could be shot and left for dead. His wife said the last time she saw the 47-year-old, they had just finished working on their box truck company. That was hours before Smith was found shot in the head, rolled up in a rug, and left in the trunk of his own car set on fire back in 2021. "What was the reason? Why did he do it?" His father, Ail Smith Sr., told IndyStar this week following the announcement of arrests in the case. Court documents reveal Christopher Hall, 42, was arrested for assisting the man accused of killing Smith. IndyStar is not naming the man accused of the killing because he has not been charged at the time of this article's publication. At the time of his arrest, he was already in federal custody for taking a stolen vehicle across state lines. But Hall was formally charged, and court documents for his arrest detail what detectives pieced together to solve the 2021 cold case after four years. At 12:30 a.m., on Nov. 9, 2021, Indianapolis Metropolitan police were called about a vehicle fire at a home in the 7500 block of Woodlawn Avenue. At the scene, Indianapolis firefighters and police noticed the driver's door on a 2011 white Chrysler 300 that was registered to Smith was fire-damaged, and the trunk was raised open. They found him inside with a gunshot wound to his head, according to court records. A witness at the scene said he was inside the home when he looked out of his bedroom window and saw two vehicles, Smith's and a dark-colored car, traveling westbound on Woodlawn Avenue toward Sears Street, according to court documents. When Smith's car drove into his driveway, the witness initially thought Smith was trying to turn around. It became strange when the other vehicle followed and turned off its headlights, so the witness grabbed his firearm and exited out the back door of his home to see what they were doing. He was walking out of his back patio door when he heard a loud boom. He saw that the white vehicle was on fire. The witness went back inside the home to tell his fiancée to call the police, court records stated. Evidence collected at the scene included a wallet containing the identification of the man who would later be arrested for killing Smith. There was also a piece of paper containing Hall's name and phone number. Police also collected two glass pipes containing suspected narcotics residue. One was found in a field in front of the house, and another was between Smith's left arm and body, according to police records. By 10:36 p.m. that evening, an anonymous tip came in to police claiming Smith was shot in front of a man and his girlfriend, but it wasn't at the location where Smith was found. The tipster claimed Smith was hanging out at an unknown house when, randomly, a second man walked into a kitchen, grabbed a rifle, returned to the living room Smith was in, and shot him, according to the court documents. The bullet went through Smith's head, with a round going through a TV. The man and his girlfriend "freaked out" and tried to clean up the blood, according to the tip. They rolled Smith's body inside a rug and loaded him into the trunk of his own car. The man who shot Smith drove Smith's car, while the other man and his girlfriend drove behind in a dark-colored Pontiac Grand Prix. Pulling FLOCK cameras, IMPD Detective Ronald Sayles was able to see the suspected Pontiac travel to a home over seven miles away from Woodlawn Avenue in the 8100 block of East 50th Street. On Nov. 10, 2021, IMPD SWAT served a search warrant for the address and conducted a walk-through of the residence to search for evidence. They observed possible droplets of blood on the floor at the entryway to the kitchen and on the sidewalk, according to court documents. But that didn't turn out to be the home where the crime happened. Ail Smith, Jr.: Arrest made in 2021 cold case of man found shot in burning car in Indianapolis The homicide investigation spanned years. On Nov. 22, 2021, prints from a swab on Smith's car came back for Hall. Another anonymous tip came in claiming Hall and Smith didn't know each other. On Nov. 23, 2021, Detective Sayles spoke with the owners of the property on East 50th Street, who said Hall was renting the home from them, but they hadn't heard from him since October. On Dec. 1, 2021, while reviewing phone records from Smith, Sayles found the last three phone calls made from one number. The detective called the number, and it went straight to voicemail with a man's voice stating his name, which is the same name as the man that police would later arrest for the killing. On Dec. 13, 2021, Sayles noticed another number with multiple phone calls to Smith's phone from Hall the day before Smith's body was found. On Jan. 10, 2022, while speaking with Smith's wife, Sayles recalled previous conversations with her where she mentioned a friend of Smith's who allegedly sold illegal narcotics. On Jan. 13, 2022, the detective went to the man's home and spoke to multiple people, confirming he lived there. On Jan. 17, 2022, Hall was taken to the IMPD Homicide Office, but provided little information to police. He did, however, tie the man accused of killing Smith back to the same address Sayles had visited four days before. Hall also said he no longer had his cellphone. On Jan. 19, 2022, a search warrant of that address found a large bloodstain on the carpet, a single bullet hole above the TV stand, and a Samsung TV in the garage with a bullet hole through the screen. On Jan. 20, 2022, multiple witnesses spoke to police about the man accused of killing Smith, with one witness sharing that he often bragged about killing people. According to court records, the man himself was brought in and said he knew Smith. He also said he had recently lost his wallet. On June 7, 2022, a skin cell swab revealed that DNA found in the trunk of Smith's car belonged to the man accused of killing him. A year later, on April 4, 2023, court documents revealed that a lab report on the rug found in the man's home had been slightly cleaned, but human blood was present, and likely came from Smith. But arrests didn't happen in the case until this year. A break in the case came on June 23. That day, Sayles spoke with a key witness. They didn't provide a motive but placed Smith at the home where police believe he was shot and killed. According to the witness, Smith came over to speak with the man accused of killing him in a back bedroom before leaving for a short time and later returning, according to court documents. Smith was sitting on a couch in the living room when the man came into the room with a rifle, fired once, and shot Smith. The man then collected cellphones from witnesses at the scene. According to court documents, the man said it had to be done. Hall still sits behind bars at the Marion County Jail, and his jury trial is set for Jan. 27, 2026. The man accused of killing Smith remains in federal custody.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
26-year-old's body found months after she vanished in river in CA national park
The body of a 26-year-old woman was recovered months after she was swept away in a river at a California national park, rangers said. Jomarie Calasanz of La Puente was found dead July 24 by search teams, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks said in a July 29 news release. Her identity was confirmed July 28. 'Now, Jomarie rests in the Peace of Christ—freed from all suffering, embraced by God's eternal love, and welcomed into the joy of everlasting life. May all be comforted in knowing that she is found. We hope that as this Good News brings us closure, it may also bring closure to the many individuals who have been touched by Jomarie's life,' her family said in a July 29 Facebook post. Calasanz went to Sequoia National Park on Memorial Day weekend with her family, McClatchy News reported. At one point, she saw her older sister struggling in the Kaweah River near Paradise Creek Bridge, so she jumped in the water to save her. But both sisters ended up caught in the fast-moving currents. Her sister, Joanne Calasanz, made it out of the water safely, but Jomarie Calasanz wasn't seen again. Search teams looked for Jomarie Calasanz for nine days before 'scaling down due to dangerous river conditions,' park officials said. The teams waited to look for her again until it was safe to do so because of the dangerous high-flowing water, park officials said. Those teams then set out to find her July 24, and they found her body that day, officials said. Diver Juan Heredia and his team also spent two days searching the river for Jomarie Calasanz, he said in a July 14 Facebook post. Heredia said he covered between 5 and 7 miles, 'diving in pools, under boulders, searching the shores—and we couldn't find her.' Heredia said in a July 29 Facebook post that Jomarie Calasanz 'died a hero' saving her sister. 'Jomarie didn't die in vain,' he wrote. Sequoia National Park is about an 80-mile drive southeast from Fresno.
CBS News
2 days ago
- CBS News
Body of 26-year-old LA County woman missing since Memorial Day located in Sequoia National Park
The body of a Los Angeles County woman missing since Memorial Day was found at a national park in Northern California last week, according to authorities. Jomarie Calasanz, 26, of La Puente, was reported missing on May 25 when she was "swept into the river while recreating with friends and family in Sequoia National Park," according to a social media post from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Despite weeks of searching, officials said that their efforts were limited due to unsafe river conditions and technical terrain. Crews still continued to proactively search the area in and around the Kaweah River by utilizing drones, dive teams, swift water teams, K9s and ground searching, officials said. At one point, they searched a "point of high interest" less than a mile from where Calasanz was last seen, but dangerous high-water flows prevented crews from finding her. Calasanz's body was found on July 24 and she was identified on Monday. "Water flow calculations were continually monitored, and it was determined July 24 would be the first and best opportunity to safely locate Jomarie," authorities said. "I am extremely grateful for the coordination, support, and determination by the Tulare County Sheriff's Office and our NPS team, in the continued search for Jomarie," said a statement from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Superintendent Clay Jordan said. "I hope this brings some level of closure to the family."
