ROCKINGHAM — Police made an arrest late Thursday night in a homicide on Palisade Circle.
Investigators with the Rockingham Police Department confirmed Friday afternoon that 34-year-old Tommy Lee Smith has been charged with an open count of murder, as well as a count of discharging a firearm in city limits.
Officers and other emergency personnel responded to the call between 5 and 5:30 Thursday evening.
Police still have not released any information about the victim.
Smith was booked into the Richmond County Jail at 10:49 p.m. and is being held without bond. He is scheduled to appear in court April 11.
This is the second homicide in the neighborhood within the past six weeks.
An unnamed juvenile was shot and killed on Feb. 14 on JFK Drive, just one street over from Thursday’s fatal shooting. A man, who has not yet been named, was also injured in the shooting.
Police say that case is still under investigation.
Online court records show Smith has no other pending charges.
Smith’s only prior conviction, according to records with the N.C. Department of Adult Correction, was on a charge of assault on a female in 2009.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
