In the early morning hours of November 27, 2019, a tragic event unfolded in the Spanish Lake neighborhood of St. Louis County. Daniel Smith, a 33-year-old male, was discovered in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Carrie Way Lane with multiple gunshot wounds. Emergency services were dispatched to the scene around 5:20 a.m., and Smith was quickly transported to a nearby hospital for urgent medical attention.
Despite the efforts to save his life, he was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.
The investigation into the shooting was promptly initiated by the St. Louis County Police Department's Bureau of Crimes Against Persons. Detectives believed from the outset that the shooting was not a random act of violence and that Daniel Smith likely knew his attacker. Their investigation led them to identify Caran Hatchet, a 26-year-old resident of St. Louis, as the primary suspect in the homicide.
Following the issuance of charges against him, Caran Hatchet turned himself in to the authorities on November 30, 2019. He was subsequently charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action and was held without bond at the St. Louis County Justice Center. The case against Hatchet proceeded through the legal system, culminating in a jury trial. During the trial, testimony was presented from Smith's girlfriend and his son, who both witnessed the murder. They recounted that Hatchet had made recent threats towards Smith. Smith's girlfriend also identified Hatchet as the suspect in the 911 calls she made on the night of the incident. Further evidence included surveillance footage that captured an individual matching Hatchet's description fleeing the scene with a firearm. In October 2022, a St. Louis County jury convicted Caran Hatchet of second-degree murder for the death of Daniel Smith, bringing a degree of closure to the victim's loved ones.
