DANVILLE, Va. – Danville Police have charged Ladarius Tomas Jeffries with the March 4 murder of 40-year-old Melvin Wayne Smith.

The 29-year-old Danville man is being held with no bond in the Danville City Jail on one count of second-degree murder.

Police arrested Jeffries on the date of the murder on unrelated charges. He has been in jail since that time for violating probation.

Police were called to the 300 block of Summit Road about 6:40 on the morning of March 4 and found Smith lying in the front yard of his home, suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency personnel.

Investigators said at the time that the shooting was not a random act and developed Jeffries as a suspect almost immediately.