COMMERCE, Ga. — It's an unsolved homicide in a small northern Georgia community that has left many baffled.
Despite several eyewitnesses and multiple surveillance cameras rolling on the alleged shooter inside a Dollar General store along B Wilson Road on Jan. 26, 2021, the suspect has never been identified.
Something the family of Billy Smith Sr, 49, of Lula, still find troubling.
"Yeah, just disappeared without a trace," explained Maylisha Stone, Smith's only daughter. "Every day I wake up, it's like I'm living in a nightmare."
Smith was one of eight children. A father of six himself. His oldest son, Billy Smith Jr., said while they all want justice for their father, their hope is their grandmother will live long enough to see the person who took her son's life face the consequences.
"My dad was my granny's baby boy," Smith Jr. said.
As to the circumstances surrounding the shooting, the Commerce Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) have not released a whole lot other than the suspect may have been driving a small, dark-colored SUV. The agencies did release a 30-second video showing three surveillance videos from three different cameras inside the store from the night of the shooting.
RELATED: New surveillance video released in connection to 2021 murder investigation at Dollar General
The suspect is seen wearing a black shirt, shorts and mask, walking around the store before exiting at 7:37 p.m. Smith Jr. said at about the same time, his father was walking into the store when the suspect shot him in the head just feet from the front door.
Smith Jr. said his uncle was seen in the surveillance video wearing a red top and holding the door as the suspect walked into the store.
He said his uncle was also shot and was hit in the torso but survived. Smith Jr. said his uncle's injuries were not severe.
As for how the two ended up at this Dollar General...
Smith Jr. said earlier in the evening on Jan. 26, 2021, he made plans with his dad to run him up to a store in Lula. Smith Sr. was going to grab a couple of things for his wife she needed from the store. Smith Jr. said sometime after 6 p.m., he called with a last-minute change in plans.
"He went on to say, 'Son, you don't have to come take me. Your Uncle Phil wants me to take this car down there to the Dollar General in Commerce for him.' I don't know why," Smith Jr. explained.
He said he thought it was odd, but the last thing he knew, his dad was going to drive a car and follow his Uncle Phil in a separate car to the Dollar General store in Commerce, about 20 miles away. Smith Jr. said his understanding was after they dropped the car his dad would ride back with his uncle.
However, that wouldn't happen.
Police have not released any possible motive in this shooting. Stone said she can't think of anything that would have led to her father being shot in such a way as the children described as "execution-style."
"This person is still out here living in their life, they can, you know, do this to someone else's family or to someone else. That's my biggest concern and fear about this whole situation," Stone explained.
Both Smith Jr. and Stone said they're hopeful authorities will soon get the break they need to catch the people behind their father's killing.
"I will be there. I'll be at every court date. I'm going to be there because I need to see this happen. We need closure at this point. And I'm hoping that we will get it soon," Stone said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the GBI's Regional Investigative Office in Athens at (706) 552‐2309 or the Commerce Police Department at (706) 335‐3200. Anonymous tips can also be made via the GBI Tip line at 1-800-597-8477 or online here.