Before he was shot and killed at his home on Aurora’s Near West Side early Sunday, Samuel Smith Jr. was a hardworking, 64-year-old family man with a penchant for fishing and camping and a deep love for his dog, his family said.
“He did everything for that dog,” recalled Donovan Smith, the middle child among Samuel Smith Jr.’s three sons.
The black lab had a full name: Hudson Smith. Samuel Smith Jr. bought Chicago White Sox and Bulls hats for Hudson, Donovan said. Everywhere Smith went, on his bicycle or in his truck, so did Hudson, his son said.
Smith’s 73-year-old girlfriend, asleep on the second floor, was the only other person home during the Sunday shooting, police said.
At 12:55 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to the home on the 800 block of Iowa Avenue for a reported gunshot victim and found Samuel Smith Jr. inside with a single gunshot wound.
Aurora Fire Department paramedics transported Smith to Presence Mercy Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 1:22 a.m., according to police. An autopsy was scheduled Monday at the Kane County coroner’s office in Geneva. The coroner did not return multiple phone and email messages seeking information about the results.
Smith’s girlfriend and at least one other person said they heard more than one gunshot fired, according to a news release. Police did not say if Smith was shot inside or outside his home.
Police said they are continuing to process evidence, and the investigation is in its preliminary stages.
Detectives “have several working theories but no firm motives,” according to the news release.
Police said they do not yet know if Smith was targeted. His family doesn’t know why he would be.
“Not at all,” Donovan said. “He was the nicest, coolest, laid-backest dude in the whole planet. I never met another one like him. I can’t think of one time in my whole 36 years of living he has ever had a problem with anyone.”
Smith had no apparent felony history, according to local records. Which leaves Donovan wondering why he was killed. Smith had lived in the home for more than 30 years, Donovan said.
“Why it had to happen, if it was mistaken identity, if somebody ran into the wrong house,” Donovan said. “Right after the why, I want to know who? It’s not going to bring my dad back, but I just hope justice gets served.”
Donovan and his older brother, Dustin, both said among countless lessons learned from their dad, what resonated above all else was the importance of hard work.
A job with a railroad company brought Smith to Aurora, and he later labored for a roofing company before retiring, Donovan said.
When Donovan was 9 years old, he started his own business mowing lawns, to which he credits his dad.
“He taught me the value of work and how it makes you feel like you’re doing something, you’re being a man about your life,” Donovan said. “He made me the person I am today.”
Both Donovan and Dustin recalled camping – they went nearly every weekend during the summer, Dustin said – and fishing with their father. They went to Marseilles, on the Fox River, but also to places farther away. Smith also took the kids to monster truck shows.
A loving grandfather to Dustin’s daughters, Smith was genuine, Dustin said.
The last time Donovan saw his father, the two just sat in the garage and talked – what they usually would do, he said.
Donovan was at home, where he and his girlfriend were hosting a baby shower for her cousin, when he got the news about his father.
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“I was devastated,” Donovan said. “I fell on the floor. I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it.”
For his father’s shooter, Dustin has one request.
“Turn yourself in,” he said.
Twitter @hannahmleone