UPDATE: Arrest Made After Baltimore Police Spokesman's Brother Killed By 'Coward'

(Updated at 4:35 p.m. July 6) BALTIMORE, MD — It's not news that Baltimore's residents and the police force are grappling with ongoing gun violence, as the city continues on pace to a record number of homicides in 2017. An arrest was announced Thursday in the most-high profile murder in the city in months, the shooting death of the brother of the spokesman for the city's police department.

One of the 176 homicides recorded so far this year in the city happened July 2, when Dionay Smith, 24, the younger brother of the department's media relations chief, T.J. Smith, was shot to death in a house in the 1400 block of Argyle Avenue. The 173rd homicide victim of the year, he was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities have not discussed a motive for the shooting or named suspects, but on Monday they released a video of a person in Smith's building they want to talk to. (See video below.)

Terrell Gibson, 21, was reportedly identified after police released video from the victim's apartment; Gibson was arrested at his home in the 1800 block of Lafayette Avenue. Late Thursday afternoon he was at the Homicide Section at Baltimore Police Headquarters and will be taken to Central Booking, where he will be charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, and reckless endangerment.

Before joining the Baltimore department in August 2015, T.J. Smith was the media relations director for the Anne Arundel County Police Department. In both jobs he has spoken to the public about tragedies in their neighborhoods. When he saw the name Dionay Smith come across his desk Sunday as a crime victim, T.J. Smith said he knew instantly it had to be his brother. Suddenly he was a victim notifying his family about a violent death.

"I've made more than my share of death notifications over the course of my career, but now, it was personal," Smith wrote on a Facebook post he shared publicly. "I arrived and shared the terrible news. A coward with a gun, entered my brother's apartment and shot and killed him."

As the Smith family asks the same questions every crime victim asks — why did this happen and who is responsible — he said what other relatives have said in homicide cases: His brother was a good kid. He wasn't "about that life."

Dionay Smith worked two jobs, helped at the Kids Safe Zone in the past and he spent time with his children, says his family. "I used to tell him, 'the busier you are, the less time and desire you'll have to be on the streets,'" the elder Smith wrote.

Calling the unknown gunman a coward, Smith says he will pray for the soul of the person responsible for his brother's death. "He ruined his life for something small and petty, no doubt. So many young people lack the foresight to understand the gravity of their poor decision making."

In 2015, when Freddie Gray died while in custody in a police van, the city was torn apart by violence and set a record number for murders, with 344. That was a 64 percent increase from 2014, when Baltimore had 211 homicides. But 2017 is so far ahead of that pace, reports Baltimore City Paper.

“Guns, gangs and drugs are what’s driving much of this,” Smith told WTOP last month when the city hit another homicide benchmark. “This is about all of us stopping the violence. If you know you have a loved one that’s involved in guns, drugs and gangs; they are at risk.”

Current Anne Arundel Police media relations officer Lt. Ryan Frashure told Patch the department is deeply saddened by the loss of Smith's brother. "Even though T.J. has been away from our department for some time, he is still very much a part of our police family. He and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time," Frashure said.

Detectives ask that anyone who can help identify the person shown in this video call 410-396-2100 with information. You can also text tips to 443-902-4824 or email information to HomicideTips@BaltimorePolice.org.

»Photos of T.J. Smith from Baltimore Police Department and Patch file photo; YouTube video of suspect courtesy of Baltimore Police Department