Ebony Smith

Case details

Ebony Passion Smith was a Warner Robins woman who was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole on August 8, 2013, for killing her husband. The sentencing followed a Houston County jury conviction of malice murder and felony murder, along with aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and possession of a firearm during a crime.

Background

Ebony Smith had a husband, Brian Smith, a 30-year-old C-130 aircraft mechanic at Robins Air Force Base. Ebony and Brian Smith had been married for nearly 28 years, according to a statement read to the court on behalf of his mother, Sandra Smith. Another account described them as married for four years.

Ebony Smith also had a boy from a previous relationship who was 10 at the time of the slaying. Ebony and Brian Smith had a daughter who was 4 at the time. The children were not at home when Brian Smith was killed.

Family members of Ebony and Brian Smith were present in the courtroom during parts of the proceedings, including Ebony Smith’s sister and father sitting behind her during sentencing.

The offence

On July 15, 2011, Brian Smith was found dead inside the couple’s home on Jay Drive in Warner Robins. He had been shot multiple times in the upper torso. At sentencing, the court record described that Ebony Smith gunned down her husband in the hallway bathroom of their Warner Robins home with his .40-caliber handgun.

Brian Smith died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen. Bullets also struck his left hand, right arm and right leg.

Police officers found Ebony Smith in the back bedroom, where she had attempted suicide by taking medication. At the trial, she testified that she took his handgun not with the intention to kill him but to end her own life.

Investigation

When police arrived after receiving a dispatch, they found Ebony Smith lethargic and hidden under covers on a bed. Former Warner Robins police Sgt. Matt Moulton, one of the first officers on the scene, testified that he found her lethargic under covers on a bed and that she had emptied several pill bottles. He said she told him she was very mad and tired of being lied to and cheated on.

An audio recording of Moulton’s conversation with Smith was played by the defense, and Ebony Smith was not heard making that statement. Moulton testified that not all of the conversation was recorded because the microphone officer was in and out of the bedroom while Moulton talked with Smith.

Dr. James Whitaker, the Houston County medical examiner, testified that Brian Smith was “hit nine different times” based on entry wounds. Whitaker said Smith was shot in the abdomen, chest, right arm and right leg, and the testimony included graphic autopsy photographs. When the photos were first shown, Ebony Smith started sobbing, prompting Judge Edward D. Lukemire to call a recess.

Crime scene investigation testimony addressed the handgun and ammunition. Police officer Juan Herrera, a crime scene investigator, testified about a semi-automatic Glock handgun used in the slaying that was recovered in the three-bedroom home. Five of the bullets were not recovered. Jurors watched a video showing the victim’s body on the bathroom floor. Herrera testified there were numerous shell casings and a few bullets recovered nearby, including one shell casing found in the bathroom sink, and some bullets traveling through the bathroom wall into the wall of the master bedroom.

Houston County sheriff’s Deputy Robert Davis testified about serving Ebony Smith with divorce papers the day Brian Smith was killed. He said he asked her if she was expecting divorce papers and she said, “No.” Davis also testified that she was “pretty calm” when she received the papers, but after defense questioning he added she did not read the papers in his presence when they talked briefly at her front door.

The victim’s brother called 911 after going into the home because his brother was not returning phone calls. The brother found Brian Smith dead in the bathroom.

Arrest and custody/mental health proceedings

Ebony Smith was taken to The Medical Center of Central Georgia, where she was placed in intensive care on life support and later moved to a regular room. She was next moved to Central State Hospital, where she remained until transferred to the Houston County jail on Nov. 29, 2011.

The Central State Hospital diagnosis was “major depressive disorder recurrent with severe with psychotic features,” and the prognosis was of “delusions or hallucinations or serious impairment or inability to function,” with Smith being “considered a high risk for suicide.”

After the reindictment prior to the new indictment, Smith pleaded not guilty at her May 19, 2012, arraignment.

Trial

Charges and trial posture

Ebony Smith was charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and possession of a firearm during a crime.

During closing arguments earlier Wednesday, prosecution and defense attorneys agreed that Ebony Smith was guilty of aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and two counts of possession of a handgun during the commission of a crime. They differed on the issues of murder and voluntary manslaughter, and one count of possession of a firearm tied to the alleged crime of murder.

Jury findings

On Wednesday, jurors deliberated about four hours before finding Ebony Smith guilty of murdering her husband July 15, 2011. She was found guilty of both malice murder and felony murder. Malice murder was described as an intentional killing, and felony murder as when someone dies during the commission of another felony. Jurors rejected an alternative charge of voluntary manslaughter.

In addition to malice murder and felony murder, Smith was convicted of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

Defence arguments

Public Defender Nick White represented Ebony Smith. White argued Smith was guilty of the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter. He told jurors that voluntary manslaughter is when someone kills another person out of a “sudden, violent and irresistible passion” as the result of serious provocation. White told jurors: “He was hiding her child away from her.”

White told jurors that Smith was “loose” on pills she took to get up the nerve to kill herself with her husband’s handgun. White’s version stated that she confronted Brian Smith after he returned home without their daughter. White said Brian Smith had gotten “rough” with her, including that he had slapped her in the past and had been guilty of adultery. White said Smith was not upset about the divorce or those prior issues, but that what upset her was that he was seeking custody of their 4-year-old.

White testified that Ebony Smith had been OK with her husband taking their daughter out of the home while they had been arguing. White said the husband would not answer her pleas about where he had taken their daughter, and she opened fire in the hallway bathroom after being afraid she would lose the 4-year-old and not knowing where he had taken the girl.

In testimony on Tuesday, Ebony Smith said she shot her husband with his semi-automatic .40-caliber handgun, inflicting multiple gunshot wounds. She testified that she took more pills to end her life but could not shoot herself because there were no bullets left in the gun, and that the gun magazine had held 13 bullets. She testified she asked her husband for a divorce and wanted him to pay for it, and that she wasn’t bothered by the divorce but was surprised that Brian Smith sought sole custody of their daughter. She also testified that she was “floating” on pills she took to get up the nerve “up to kill herself.”

Prosecution arguments

Assistant District Attorney Clif Woody led the prosecution and sought life in prison. Woody contended that Ebony Smith was lying in wait for her husband on the summer day and that she knew what she planned to do. Woody’s argument stated that she cornered her husband in the bathroom and fatally shot him.

Woody argued that the legal definition of voluntary manslaughter did not apply if there was an interval between the killing and provocation that was “sufficient for the voice of reason to be heard.” Woody noted that Ebony Smith testified she knew Brian Smith probably took their daughter to the house of a friend whom Ebony Smith also said she suspected of having a relationship with her husband. Woody told jurors: “In this nightmare, Brian had no chance,” and: “He didn’t see it coming.”

Earlier, Assistant District Attorney Greg Winters told jurors that Smith shot her husband with a .40-caliber Glock handgun that held 13 rounds of ammunition, firing it “until it was empty.” Winters told jurors the slaying occurred the same afternoon Brian Smith had been served with divorce papers. Winters said the victim’s brother was expected to testify that he found his brother’s body in the hallway near a bathroom. Winters said jurors could expect testimony that Ebony Smith took a bunch of pills after killing her husband.

Sentencing

The sentencing hearing occurred on Thursday, August 8, 2013. Superior Court Judge Edward D. Lukemire presided over the 2 1/2-day trial and sentenced Ebony Smith before a courtroom filled with the husband’s close-knit family.

Judge Lukemire sentenced Smith to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Smith was expected to serve 30 years before she would be eligible for parole consideration according to state sentencing guidelines.

Assistant District Attorney Clif Woody sought life in prison and made no recommendation either way on the possibility of parole, leaving that to the judge’s discretion.

Ebony Smith wore a dark green Houston County jail jumpsuit, was handcuffed and shackled, wiped away tears, and kept her head down during most of the sentencing hearing. She did not make a statement. Her sister sobbed and cried loudly after the judge pronounced the sentence, and she was helped out of the courtroom.

Smith’s father remained seated alone in the courtroom except for a bailiff and declined comment.

Statements read to the court

Alfreda Smothers, Brian Smith’s aunt, read a statement to the court on behalf of his mother, Sandra Smith. Sandra Smith wrote: “Brian was my refuge,” and said he helped her through the sudden loss of her 49-year-old husband following a massive heart attack. She said they had been married nearly 28 years. Sandra Smith also wrote about the impact on Ebony and Brian Smith’s daughter, who was 4 when her mother murdered her father, and wrote: “Her childhood has been altered forever,” and: “She tosses and turns restlessly in her sleep. I lay awake so many nights listening to this baby crying for her daddy in her sleep. “She has mood swings and becomes overly anxious at any change of schedule. I have to be in the school pickup line early because she fears being left alone again. She remembers her dad telling her that he would be right back to get her. But he never came,” and “Smith said.”

Marcus Smith, who discovered Brian Smith’s bullet-riddled body after he went to check on him at his Jay Drive home, shared in his statement: “I’m paranoid to the point where I can’t go out to social places without thinking something is going to happen,” and: “I have to constantly watch my back because of my sense of security. Panic or anxiety attacks are frequent. I can’t get the visions of seeing my brother dead out of my head, and I often have nightmares about it.”

Kelvin Smith wrote in his statement to the court: “The thing that troubles me most about this loss is his daughter. “To know that she will never get the opportunity to get to see the kind of person her dad was or to know that she will never get to have her dad at her graduations, will not get to see her off to prom or get to walk her down the wedding aisle depresses me,” and “he said.”

Appeals

No appeal information was included.

Outcome

Ebony Smith was convicted by a Houston County jury and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole on August 8, 2013. The case outcome included the jury rejection of voluntary manslaughter in favor of malice murder and felony murder, and included convictions for aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

Other details

Public Defender Nick White told the judge that Ebony Smith asked him—and asked her family—not to make any statements on her behalf, feeling unworthy and remorseful about the slaying. White also told the judge that Smith took responsibility for the shooting from the start and had not wavered from that.

Afterward, Woody said he was pleased with the disposition of the case and stated that domestic cases involving two people once committed to each other were among the hardest to try. Woody told reporters: “You have families that are torn apart,” and he said.

Assistant District Attorney Clif Woody’s account included: Brian and Ebony Smith had been married for four years. Besides their child, Ebony Smith also had a boy from a previous relationship who was 10 at the time of the slaying.