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Warner Robins woman sentenced to life with possibility of parole for husband’s murder

By Becky Purser - Macon.com

August 8, 2013

PERRY -- A Warner Robins woman was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole Thursday for killing her husband a few hours after she was served with divorce papers.

A Houston County jury convicted 32-year-old Ebony Passion Smith on Wednesday of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and possession of a firearm during a crime.

Superior Court Judge Edward D. Lukemire, who presided over the 2 1/2-day trial, sentenced Smith before a courtroom filled with the husband’s close-knit family. Ebony Smith’s sister and father sat behind her during the hearing.

She is expected to serve 30 years before she would be eligible for parole consideration, according to state sentencing guidelines.

Smith gunned down her 30-year-old husband, a C-130 aircraft mechanic at Robins Air Force Base, in the hallway bathroom of their Warner Robins home July 15, 2011, with his .40-caliber handgun.

Alfreda Smothers, Brian Smith’s aunt, read a statement to the court on the behalf of his mother, Sandra Smith.

“Brian was my refuge,” Sandra Smith wrote about her son, the oldest of three sons, in the statement. She said he helped her through the sudden loss of her 49-year-old husband following a massive heart attack. They had been married nearly 28 years.

She also wrote about the impact on Ebony and Brian Smith’s daughter, who was 4 when her mother murdered her father.

“Her childhood has been altered forever,” Sandra Smith wrote. “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,” Smith said.

Marcus Smith, who discovered his brother’s bullet-riddled body after he went to check on him at his Jay Drive home, shared in his statement what that experience has done to him.

“I’m paranoid to the point where I can’t go out to social places without thinking something is going to happen,” he wrote. “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, Brian Smith’s other brother, 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,” he said.

Public Defender Nick White, who represented Ebony Smith, told the judge that she asked him -- and asked her family -- not to make any statements on her behalf, feeling unworthy and remorseful about the slaying. He noted that she took responsibility for the shooting from the start and has not wavered from that.

Smith, clad in a dark green Houston County jail jumpsuit, 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. She was helped out of the courtroom. Smith’s father, who remained seated alone in the courtroom except for a bailiff, declined comment.

Assistant District Attorney Clif Woody, the lead prosecutor on the case, sought life in prison for Smith and made no recommendation either way on the possibility of parole. He left that to the judge’s discretion.

Afterward, Woody said he was pleased with the disposition of the case. He said domestic cases such as this one involving two people who were once committed to each other are the hardest to try.

“You have families that are torn apart,” he said.

Brian and Ebony Smith had been married for four years. Besides the child they had together, Ebony Smith also has a boy from a previous relationship. He was 10 at the time of the slaying. The children were not at home when Brian Smith was killed.

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

When reaching a verdict Wednesday, jurors rejected an alternative charge of voluntary manslaughter. The defense contended that Ebony Smith was guilty of killing her husband but not of murder, having acted in a moment of passion when her husband would not tell her where he’d taken their daughter. He was seeking custody of the girl, and the couple had argued about that earlier in the day when Ebony Smith was served with divorce papers.

Warner Robins woman guilty of murdering husband

PERRY -- Jurors deliberated about four hours Wednesday before finding a Warner Robins woman guilty of murdering her husband July 15, 2011, the same day she was served with divorce papers.

Ebony Passion Smith was found guilty of both malice murder and felony murder. Malice murder is an intentional killing, and felony murder is when someone dies during the commission of another felony. She also was convicted of aggravated assault, aggravated battery and three counts of possession of firearm during the commission of a crime.

Smith admittedly gunned down her husband, 30-year-old Brian Smith, a C-130 aircraft mechanic at Robins Air Force Base, in the hallway bathroom of their Warner Robins home with his semi-automatic .40-caliber handgun.

He died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, but bullets also struck his left hand, right arm and right leg.

Jurors rejected an alternative charge of voluntary manslaughter in the place of murder. The defense contended that Ebony Smith was guilty of killing her husband but not of murder, having acted in a moment of passion when her husband would not tell her where he’d taken their daughter, who was 4 at the time. He was seeking physical custody of the girl, and the couple had argued about that earlier in the day when Ebony Smith was served with divorce papers.

The prosecution contended that Ebony Smith was lying in wait for her husband on that summer day two years ago and that she knew exactly what she planned to do. She then cornered her husband in the bathroom and fatally shot him. When police arrived, they found her lethargic, under the covers in the bed in the master bedroom after she took an overdose of medicine in an attempt to take her own life.

Ebony Smith, with her head down, was quiet Wednesday when the verdict was read.

Judge Edward D. Lukemire set a sentencing hearing for Ebony Smith for 2 p.m. Thursday. She faces a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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.

But attorneys split on the issue of murder and voluntary manslaughter and one count of possession of a firearm tied to the alleged crime of murder.

Public Defender Nick White argued that 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.

“He was hiding her child away from her,” White told jurors.

According to the defense, Ebony Smith, who was “loose” on pills she took to get up the nerve to kill herself with her husband’s handgun, confronted Brian Smith after he returned home without their daughter.

But Assistant District Attorney Clif Woody argued that the legal definition of voluntary manslaughter does not apply if there is an interval between the killing and provocation that’s “sufficient for the voice of reason to be heard.”

According to the prosecution, Ebony Smith had plenty of time to cool down between the time Brian Smith left with their daughter and then returned without her. Woody noted that Ebony Smith testified she knew that 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.

“In this nightmare, Brian had no chance,” Woody told jurors. “He didn’t see it coming.”

Warner Robins woman testifies she intended to end her own life instead of her husband's

By Becky Purser - Macon.com

August 6, 2013

PERRY -- On trial for killing her husband two summers ago, Ebony Passion Smith testified Tuesday that she took his handgun from the top dresser drawer not with the intention to kill him but to end her own life.

Smith is on trial in Houston County Superior Court for the July 15, 2011, slaying of Brian Smith in the couple’s Jay Drive home in Warner Robins. Her attorney says that although she killed her husband, she is not guilty of murder.

“I wasn’t even thinking,” said Ebony Smith, who testified that she was “floating” on pills she took to get up the nerve up to kill herself.

As she stood in the door of the hallway bathroom with the gun at her side, Smith kept asking her husband where he’d taken their daughter, who was 4 at the time. He didn’t answer immediately and finally told her he’d dropped their daughter off, she recounted to jurors Tuesday. Ebony Smith said she figured their girl was at the home of a woman she suspected him of dating.

“It made me feel like he was trying to take my baby and hide her from me,” Smith testified.

Smith said she shot her husband with his semi-automatic .40-caliber handgun, inflicting multiple gunshot wounds. She said she took more pills to end her life but couldn’t shoot herself because there were no bullets left in the gun. The gun magazine had held 13 bullets.

Smith, dressed in a gray business suit, testified Tuesday she had asked her husband for a divorce and wanted him to pay for it. She said she wasn’t bothered by the divorce but was surprised that Brian Smith sought sole custody of their daughter. The divorce papers were served a few hours before Ebony Smith shot him to death.

Assistant District Attorney Clif Woody questioned Ebony Smith about the divorce papers -- which he noted did not state that Brian Smith was seeking sole custody. He asked her if a reasonable course of action would have been to seek the advice of an attorney about custody.

Attorneys also asked Smith more than once why she shot her husband, but she wasn’t always able to give an answer. She kept her head down for most of her testimony and barely spoke barely above a whisper. She sobbed when recounting the shooting.

She was the last witness to testify Tuesday, with both prosecution and defense attorneys resting their case. Closing arguments are expected Wednesday morning, followed by instructions on the law from Judge Edward D. Lukemire on malice murder, felony murder and other charges against her.

Earlier Tuesday, jurors heard testimony about the discovery of the body, viewed autopsy photos and watched video of the crime scene.

Former Warner Robins police Sgt. Matt Moulton, among the first officers on the scene, testified that he found a lethargic Ebony Smith hidden under covers on a bed. She had emptied several pill bottles, he said.

“She told me she was very mad and she was tired of being lied to and cheated on,” Moulton told jurors.

But when an audio recording of his conversation with Smith was played by the defense, Ebony Smith was not heard making that statement. Moulton said not all of their conversation was recorded because the officer who had the microphone was in and out of the bedroom while Moulton talked with Smith.

Dr. James Whitaker, Houston County medical examiner, testified that Brian Smith was “hit nine different times” based on entry wounds. Smith was shot in the abdomen, chest, right arm and right leg, Whitaker said.

Whitaker’s testimony included the introduction of graphic autopsy photographs of the victim’s body. When the photos were first shown, Ebony Smith started sobbing, prompting Judge Lukemire to call a recess.

Police officer Juan Herrera, a crime scene investigator, testified about the 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 that showed the victim’s body on the bathroom floor. Herrera said there were numerous shell casings and a few bullets recovered nearby. One of the shell casings was found in the bathroom sink, and some of the bullets traveled through the bathroom wall into the wall of the master bedroom, Herrera said.

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 said Ebony Smith was “pretty calm” when she received the papers. But after defense questioning, he added that she also did not read the papers in his presence when they talked briefly at her front door.

Family members of Ebony and Brian Smith were in the courtroom Tuesday.

Defense: Warner Robins woman killed husband, but it wasn’t murder

PERRY -- Prosecution and defense attorneys didn’t dispute whether a Warner Robins woman unloaded a .40-caliber handgun into her husband in 2011 and killed him after he served her with divorce papers.

But the defense contends it wasn’t murder.

Opening statements began Monday in the Houston County trial of Ebony Passion Smith. Smith was charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and possession of a firearm during a crime.

Her husband, Brian Smith, 30, was found dead inside the couple’s home on Jay Drive off Green Street after he had been shot multiple times in the upper torso July 15, 2011. Officers found Ebony Smith in the back bedroom, where she had attempted suicide by taking medication, police said.

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.” The slaying was the same afternoon Brian Smith had her served with divorce papers, Winters said.

The victim’s brother is expected to testify that he found his brother’s body in the hallway near a bathroom. He had gone to the home because Brian Smith was not returning phone calls.

Winters said jurors could expect to hear testimony that Ebony Smith took a bunch of pills after killing her husband.

Public Defender Nick White told jurors that Ebony Smith shot and killed her husband but that he expected the evidence to show she’s not guilty of malice or felony murder. Malice murder is when someone intentionally kills someone, while felony murder is when the death occurs as the result of the commission of another felony.

White said Smith’s husband had gotten “rough” with her, had slapped her in the past and had been guilty of adultery. But she was not upset about that or about the divorce that the couple previously had talked about, White said.

“What upset her was he was seeking custody of their 4-year-old,” White told jurors.

Ebony Smith had been OK with her husband taking their daughter out of the home while they had been arguing. The other child, a 10-year-old boy of hers from a previous relationship, was not at home.

While her husband was gone, Ebony Smith began to think about losing her daughter who was the “apple of her eye,” White said. She became irrational, decided that life was not worth living if he took her daughter, and began to take pills.

Under the influence of the medication, she picked up her husband’s handgun and fired a shot into the bedroom wall upon his return, White said. She became increasingly upset as he repeatedly ignored her and would not answer her pleas about where he’d taken their daughter.

Afraid she would lose the 4-year-old and not knowing where her husband had taken the girl, Smith opened fire on her husband in the hallway bathroom, White said.

“It was a horrible thing, and it was a crime,” White told jurors. “But it was not a murder.”

Testimony is expected Tuesday in the trial presided over by Judge Edward D. Lukemire. The trial is expected to continue at least through Wednesday.

Warner Robins woman faces additional charges in husband’s slaying

By Becky Purser - Macon.com

January 30, 2013

PERRY -- A Warner Robins woman accused of fatally shooting her husband after he served her with divorce papers now faces felony murder and other charges.

Ebony Passion Smith, 31, was reindicted by a Houston County grand jury Tuesday on the additional charges. She was originally indicted on a charge of malice murder, which accused her of premeditating the killing.

The new charge of felony murder is when someone dies in the commission of another felony.

Smith now also is charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery and possession of a firearm during a crime, according to the new indictment.

At 5:59 p.m. July 15, 2011, police were dispatched to 119 Jay Drive in Warner Robins in reference to a deceased person. Brian Smith, 30, was found dead inside the home, shot several times in the upper torso. Police officers found Ebony Smith in the back bedroom, where she had attempted suicide by taking medication, a Warner Robins police news release stated.

Judge Edward D. Lukemire signed an order Jan. 16 for a mental evaluation of Ebony Smith to determine the degree of criminal responsibility or mental competency at the time of the alleged act, according to Superior Court records.

A defense notice to raise insanity, mental illness or mental retardation as a defense was filed Jan. 16 by Houston County Public Defender Nick White, according to court records.

According to police reports, the victim’s brother called 911 after he went into the home because his brother was not returning phone calls. He found his brother dead in the bathroom.

Ebony Smith was found under the covers in the master bedroom, according to the defense notice. She reportedly had taken large doses of different medications before and after the shooting, the notice states.

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, the notice states. 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 for “major depressive disorder recurrent with severe with psychotic features,” the notice states.

The prognosis was of “delusions or hallucinations or serious impairment or inability to function,” and Smith was “considered a high risk for suicide,” the notice states.

According to police reports included in the court file, Ebony Smith told police she shot her husband, who had served her with divorce papers.

“Ms. Smith stated that she was mad and tired of being lied to and cheated on,” a police report stated.

She also told police her husband had hit her a couple of times in the face and pushed her down before the shooting, the report stated. The officer did not observe any visible injuries, the report stated.

A handgun was found at the foot of the bed, where Smith was under the covers, near some papers, the report stated. Several empty bottles of various prescription medications were found on the dresser near the bed.

The couple’s children, ages 10 and 4 at the time of the shooting, were not at home, the report stated.

At her May 19, 2012, arraignment prior to the new indictment, Smith pleaded not guilty. A new arraignment is expected in light of the new indictment.

Neither White or prosecutor Dan Bibler could be reached for comment.

Warner Robins woman indicted on murder charge in shooting death of husband

By Becky Purser - Macon.com

December 14, 2011

PERRY -- A Warner Robins woman was indicted by a Houston County grand jury Tuesday on a charge of murder in the July shooting death of her 30-year-old husband.

Ebony Passion Smith, 30, was released from Central State Hospital where she had been for the past several months and booked in the Houston County jail Nov. 29, public defender Nick White, who is representing Smith, previously said. He could not immediately be reached for comment late Tuesday afternoon.

The charge is malice murder, which means the slaying was premeditated, said Julia C. Bowen, an assistant district attorney who is prosecuting the case. Bowen declined to elaborate on the facts of the case.

At 5:59 p.m. July 15, Warner Robins police were dispatched to 119 Jay Drive in reference to a deceased person, a Warner Robins police news release stated.

Brian Smith was found dead inside the home, having been shot several times in the upper torso. Ebony Smith was found by responding police officers in the back bedroom, where she had attempted suicide by consuming medication, the release stated.

Smith was being held Tuesday without bond in the Houston County jail.