Body cam video of police officers’ deaths in Americus to air on TV show

The deaths of two police officers killed in Americus in 2016 will be featured in a television premiere Tuesday night.

Jody Smith and Nick Smarr were best friends since high school and both died trying to save the other while responding to a domestic violence call on the fourth anniversary of their police academy graduation.

The incident and its aftermath will be aired on Investigation Discovery’s new Body Cam series at 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Video captured on Smarr’s Americus Police Department body camera showed him coming to the aid of Smith, a Georgia Southwestern University officer, who was shot in the head while backing up Smarr on the call near campus.

Smarr also was fatally wounded but continued to render aid in his dying moments.

The new television show uses body camera footage to “show the danger and heroism that law enforcement face on a daily basis,” according to a news release.

A third of the one-hour program is devoted to Smith and Smarr and the manhunt for their killer, Minguell K. Lembrick.

The slain officers’ parents and colleagues explain how the men had been inseparable, even in death.

This story was originally published December 10, 2018 at 12:25 PM.