GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — Almost a year-and-a-half after he was murdered, a local family is getting some answers as to who may have pulled the trigger.
Aron Ray Smith, 23, was shot outside of a gas station on West Gate City Boulevard in Greensboro back in Dec. 2020.
On Monday, Greensboro police arrested the man who they believe shot him.
While Smith’s family admits he wasn’t perfect, they said he didn’t deserve to lose his life.
“What pleasure did you get out of taking a 23-year-old child-to me, his life? You took him from his sisters and his brothers, his nieces and his nephews, then his momma and his daddy and he’s gone forever. There’s no bringing him back,” said his mother, Angel.
The permanent pain of losing the 23-year-old isn’t any easier now that someone is behind bars for his murder.
“You want this to be the beginning of the ending towards justice, but until we get to court and they show us the evidence of why this might be the man, what his motives were…I’m still afraid to hope,” said Angel.
Police arrested Rodon Edgar Boswell, 41, on Monday, charging him with the first-degree murder of Smith.
Smith died from a gunshot wound to the chest outside of an Exxon gas station Dec. 28, 2020.
“He did it at the corner of a major busy road, at a light, the sun had just started going down in the middle of a parking lot. Like no one was getting gas or anything?" Said Jennifer Powers, Smith’s sister.
While his family doesn’t know for sure what led up to or connected Boswell to his murder, they do admit Smith struggled with addiction.
“He is the type to do someone wrong to get that high. But no amount of money is worth taking somebody’s life because you’re still not going to get that money back,” said Powers.
“And we don’t know if that’s what happened,” said Angel.
This family is now left with only photos and a necklace with his ashes inside.
They’re choosing to remember Smith as the dependable big brother, loving son, and uncle who was excited to welcome in another niece, Abigail.
“(Smith was) Constantly texting me. How is she? How is she? He was so excited,” said Powers who now has a one-year-old.
For Angel who lost her youngest son, she wants families trying to help loved ones with addiction to know this.
“Don’t give up. It doesn’t matter how hard they fight you, how frustrated you get, how many times they attempt it. Just don’t give up on them. Because then one night, you’re in my position and he’s gone and he doesn’t have a chance to get better ever again,” she said.
Boswell does have a list of prior charges dating back to 1997. Including robbery with a dangerous weapon, first-degree sexual offense, and felony kidnapping, the last two of which he served time for.
Boswell is currently being held without bond in Guilford County Jail.
His next court appearance is set for May 3.