Man passes away following assault in Smiths Station Friday morning
An Auburn man has died in the city of Smiths Station’s first homicide since 2020.
The man died after an assault with shots being fired occurred on Friday, June 7, 2024, around midnight at a house off of Lee Road 430 near the 15000 block of U.S. Highway 280 East, just a few feet from the city’s Fire Station 1.
Witnesses on the scene advised that the victim and his uncle by marriage, 46-year-old Jamey Scott Dillard from Smiths Station were in an argument when a firearm was brandished, according to officials. The victim was found suffering from being struck in the head with handgun until he was unconscious. He also appeared to have minor cuts and bruises around the face, neck, and head area.
Lee County Coroner Daniel Sexton confirmed Saturday afternoon, that the victim, now identified as 40-year-old William Armstrong, passed away at 3:47 P.M. at Piedmont Columbus Regional.
Armstrong will be taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Montgomery for a postmortem exam. Dillard was taken to Lee County Jail the morning of the incident and charged with Assault with a bond of $50,000. He has since bonded out, but was recaptured, according to family of the victim.
This is the first homicide in Lee County, outside of Auburn and Opelika, this year. The last homicide in Smiths Station took place on January 28, 2020, when two teenagers were shot on Lee Road 307, leaving one dead.
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