Retired Durham deputy police chief Anthony Marsh Sr. is not done fighting over his son’s death. On Tuesday morning, he filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Durham County that accuses three people of responsibility for the 2021 killing of his son, 34-year-old Anthony Marsh Jr. Marsh Sr. said he and investigators have been unable to locate two of the defendants to serve them, so the civil case begins with one man already behind bars on related charges and two others still out of reach.
What the lawsuit says
According to WRAL, the lawsuit claims the violence that ended Marsh Jr.’s life started with a planned fight between two young women. That confrontation, the complaint says, spiraled when a vehicle hit Marsh’s car in what was reported as a hit-and-run, then escalated again when gunfire broke out, leaving Marsh fatally wounded. The suit names Toney Allen Smith Jr., Nitisha Page and J'Nayia Farrington as defendants. Smith was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in July 2024 and sentenced to five to seven years, and state prison records show he is projected to be released in 2027.
Criminal case history
Marsh Jr. was found shot inside his vehicle on April 19, 2021, near the 300 block of East Pilot Street and later died at a hospital, with arrests following in May 2021, according to local reporting. As reported by ABC11, U.S. Marshals arrested Toney Allen Smith Jr., and the FBI arrested Nitisha Page on murder and hit-and-run allegations tied to the case.
Why charges against Page were dropped
In February 2024, a judge dismissed the criminal case against Page, sharply criticizing prosecutors for missing deadlines and repeatedly changing the charges. The ruling, as detailed by WRAL, described the state’s conduct as troubling and raised broader questions about how the case had been handled. Prosecutors later faced an appeal of the judge’s decision.
Legal path ahead
The wrongful-death lawsuit now opens a civil track where Marsh Sr. can seek discovery, subpoenas and civil damages under a lower burden of proof than in a criminal trial. If Page or Farrington are located and served, the case could trigger depositions and document production that criminal proceedings never reached, giving the family another route to pursue accountability while criminal appeals and sentences continue in the background.
At a courthouse hearing, the judge granted Marsh Sr. more time to try to locate and serve Page and Farrington, which keeps the civil case alive but on pause until they can be reached. The filing makes clear that Marsh Sr. intends to use every legal tool available to get answers about how and why his son was killed.
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