By Malynda Fulton/The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA — Mike Le said he awoke to loud banging at his back door at 6:45 a.m. Monday. He had no idea that a wounded neighbor stood on the other side.
“I heard someone scream and yell, ‘Help me,’ as they knocked on the door,” he said.
Le said it took him two or three minutes to get out of bed and make it to the back door of his home in Branch Point Subdivision off Bemiss Road. However, he was startled to open his door and find a woman lying on the grass drenched in blood.
“I believe she was shot in her face and her chest,” Le said. “She said that her ex-husband from Virginia shot her. Blood was everywhere. There were blood stains all on my windows and the side of my house.”
A nearby neighbor called 911.
The injured woman, who lives behind Le, had apparently dragged herself to Le’s back door after she was shot.
The Valdosta Police Department responded to the 5300 block of Branch Point Drive, assisted by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and emergency medical services.
Officers arrived on the scene to find the 37-year-old woman, as well as her 16-year-old daughter, wounded. The victims were transported to South Georgia Medical Center for treatment.
The wounds were reported to be very serious but did not appear to be life-threatening, Valdosta Police Cmdr. Brian Childress said. Their condition was not known at press time.
By late afternoon, all apparent signs of the early morning tragedy had been erased in Branch Point Subdivision. The crime scene tape was gone, and neighbors went about their daily activities.
“We are still frightened and bothered by the situation, though,” said Le, who owns Be Be Nails on Bemiss Road.
Since the shooting was reported, a Be On the Lookout (BOLO) alert has been issued for Roy Mandell Smith, 38, the estranged husband of the 37-year-old victim and father of the 16-year-old victim.
Smith is a black male standing about 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds. He is believed to be driving a black, 2002 Cadillac Escalade. The suspect is not a Valdosta resident and is possibly on his way to New York. A black female is also believed to be traveling with Smith.
Smith is considered armed and dangerous.
The suspect has prior convictions in Georgia for possession of cocaine, sale and distribution of cocaine and altering identification, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections Web site. He most recently served about nine years in prison at Coffee Correctional Facility and was released early from a 30-year sentence in 2006. He is on parole, according to the GDC.
Anyone who sees Roy Mandell Smith or who has information about his whereabouts is urged not to approach him but to call 911 immediately.
The Valdosta Police Department can be reached at 293-3145.
