A fatal encounter in a Greenburgh, New York, apartment building on an August evening in 2017 claimed the life of 46-year-old Joseph Smith III. The tragic chain of events was set in motion earlier that day when the son of Smith's fiancée was reportedly robbed in the parking lot of the Manhattan Avenue complex. The alleged assailants were three teenagers: Trevon Major, who was 16, his brother Vance Major, 18, and Timothy Whitney, also 18.
Later, in the building's vestibule, the robbery victim confronted Vance Major and Timothy Whitney in an attempt to get his property back. The argument escalated when Trevon Major allegedly appeared and threatened the young man with a handgun. The victim's mother came from her nearby apartment and pleaded with the armed teenager not to shoot her son. The young man then retreated to his own home in an adjacent building.
Sometime after this confrontation, Joseph Smith III went to the apartment where the Major brothers lived and knocked on their door. Trevon Major, along with his brother and Whitney, was inside. When Trevon Major opened the door, he was holding a gun and shot Smith once in the chest as he stood in the hallway. A neighbor who heard the shot called the police. Arriving officers followed a trail of blood from the Majors' doorway to a nearby stairwell where they found the injured Smith. He was transported to Westchester Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The three teenagers remained in the apartment until police executed a search warrant. Inside, they discovered the handgun used in the shooting, which had been broken into three pieces and concealed. Following the investigation, all three were arrested. Trevon Major faced charges of manslaughter, criminal possession of a weapon, and tampering with physical evidence. Vance Major and Timothy Whitney were both charged with criminal possession of a weapon and evidence tampering. Trevon Major later pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The legal proceedings for Vance Major and Timothy Whitney were to continue.
