The superhero Aquaman raises his trident on a blue Audi outside of Arthur Kalle Dominique Smith’s home in Brownsburg.
The car’s design was a nod to Smith’s time as an underwater welder. One of his many projects, Smith drove the car across the country, happy to pop the hood and show off his handiwork underneath. Signatures and messages of love cover it now, after more than 100 people showed up to an impromptu memorial July 16.
Though the Aquaman car was a treasure, Smith was ready to let it go. He had just started another project – restoring a black Audi sedan – with his kids weeks before he was shot and killed around 5:25 a.m. July 13, 2026, at an apartment complex on the east side of Indianapolis. He was 31. Smith leaves behind three children between the ages of 11 and 15.
Kalon Smith, his brother, organized the memorial and drive-in.
“He always had a smile,” Kalon Smith said about his brother. “He was always pushing everybody. He always wanted the best out of everybody.”
Early police reports show Smith was shot multiple times after an argument at Bristol Square Apartments near East 25th Street and Victoria Park Drive. Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services pronounced him dead at the scene.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, in a news release, said an argument happened before the shooting and family believe he was meeting someone he knew at the apartment.
A man was detained after the shooting, but was later released after investigators consulted the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office. The investigation remains ongoing. In response to an email sent to Indianapolis police, an unidentified spokesperson referred to the initial statement and provided no new information.
Smith’s mother, Carmelia Smith, said she has mounting questions about the shooting and what led to it. She worries no one will be held accountable for her son’s death.
For now, she wants to focus on the positive parts of her youngest son’s life: his passion for fixing cars, his BMX bike rides inside the house, his welding work and his love for his three children. She said he was soft-spoken and wanted a challenge, the kind of guy who would throw away the instructions and figure it out himself.
Before moving back to the Indianapolis area, Arthur Smith worked as a welder and certified diver in Texas. In photos posted to Facebook profile, he proudly showed off his work on spacecraft capsules with Raytheon and NASA. Last year, he posted about pursuing a pilot’s license.
Between posts of his many “side missions,” he is smiling with his children and showing off their work in the garage.
If you saw Smith, then you saw his kids, his brother said. His children were always with him as he tinkered with Audis and worked on engines.
They’re part of why he moved to Brownsburg, said Robert Barbato, a friend and mentor.
“His kids came first, no matter what,” Barbato said, adding that his friend’s death was a shock. “He just had a big heart, willing to help everybody, a gentleman.”
Kalon Smith said his brother’s most recent projects – Audis that he worked on with his children – will head to Florida with him.
“I’m keeping them alive until the kids are old enough,” Kalon Smith said. “As a big brother, I got to make sure the cars get to 100% before I let the kids safely drive them.”
Aubrey Wright is a breaking news reporter for the Indy Star. She can be reached at amwright@indystar.com.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Family remembers father, former NASA welder killed in Indy shooting
Reporting by Aubrey Wright, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Aubrey Wright, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
