A 23-year-old man faces an open murder charge in the fatal stabbing of Daniel Lusk on the Lansing River Trail in August.

Edward Joseph Smith was arraigned Thursday, Sept. 3, in 54-A District Court, the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office announced. Smith was charged as a second-time offender and is being held without bond.

Lusk, 22, was found with multiple stab wounds under the bridge at East Michigan Avenue and South Grand Avenue about 4 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 20, according to the Lansing State Journal. Officers performed lifesaving measures until Lansing Fire Department personnel arrived, but Lusk was pronounced dead at the scene.

His death was Lansing's fifth homicide of 2026.

Authorities have not released a motive in the alleged attack. No details about the prior offense underlying Smith's repeat-offender charge enhancement have been made public. Court records indicated Smith was represented by an appointed attorney, but the attorney's name was not listed in the online register of actions.

Smith is scheduled for a pre-examination conference on Sept. 11, followed by a preliminary exam on Sept. 18, WILX reported.

Lusk's family spoke publicly about his death in late August. His sister, Haleigh Lusk, told WLNS on Aug. 26: "We want people to know that he was a brother, he was an uncle, he was a son, and he deserves, he deserves justice." Family members said Lusk was a Lansing resident who loved fishing and mushroom hunting.

The stabbing prompted safety concerns from downtown business owners. Sidney McCalib, general manager of the Lansing Shuffle, told WILX on Aug. 20 that employees and guests regularly raised concerns about feeling unsafe near Rotary Park and the River Trail. Lansing Police said they would assign additional patrols to the trail area after Lusk's death, according to WLNS.

A separate homicide occurred roughly 10 days later on a different stretch of the trail in Old Town. Louis Woodruff, 57, was found unconscious with facial trauma in the 200 block of East Cesar Chavez Avenue on Aug. 30 and died Sept. 1, according to the Lansing State Journal. That death, the city's sixth homicide of 2026, remains under investigation. Police have not confirmed any connection between the two cases.