Knoxville police announce arrests of two in connection to 2022 murder

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Knoxville Police Department officers arrested two people in connection to a murder that happened in December of 2022, KPD officials announced Thursday.

The murder in question was that of 40-year-old Demetrius Bomar, KPD said, who was shot and killed on Lay Avenue on Dec. 7, 2022.

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Rodney Smartt, 22, and Ayla Gilbert, 24, were taken into custody and indicted on several charges, including first-degree murder, aggravated robbery and especially aggravated kidnapping stemming from Bomar’s death.

Gilbert was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Smoky Mountain Fugitive Task Force on Wednesday at a home on Dinwiddie Street, KPD said. Smart was located in the Walter P. area by the Smoky Mountain Fugitive Task Force and members of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office’s Narcotics Unit and Retail Crime Unit.

“I appreciate all the hard work of the members of the Smoky Mountain Fugitive Task Force who put in long hours to remove this very violent and dangerous individual from our streets,” U.S. Marshal David G. Jolley said. “I also appreciate the assistance of the Knox County Narcotics Unit who provided a key piece of information that led to locating Smartt.”

Smartt was reportedly in possession of a stolen handgun.