In the late hours of a March night in 2015, a life was tragically cut short at a motel in New Stanton, Pennsylvania. Brandon Gray, a 31-year-old male from New Kensington, was found in severe medical distress at the New Stanton Garden Inn. He had sustained a gunshot wound to the trunk and was rushed to Forbes Hospital in Monroeville. Despite medical efforts, he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
The investigation into the death of Brandon Gray quickly shifted from a grim
discovery to a homicide case. State police determined that he had been shot while being robbed at gunpoint. The events that unfolded painted a picture of a drug transaction that had taken a violent and fatal turn. Investigators learned that the shooting was the result of a dispute that erupted during the course of the robbery, described in later court proceedings as part of a 'turf war' between rival drug dealers.
Within days of the shooting, authorities made an arrest in connection with the murder. Christopher Joseph Smarr, a 17-year-old from McKeesport, was taken into custody without incident at a residence in his hometown. Despite his age, the Westmoreland County District Attorney's office made the decision to charge him as an adult. The charges filed against Smarr were severe and included criminal homicide, robbery, receiving stolen property, and a firearms violation for carrying a weapon without a license.
The legal process that followed delved deeper into the final moments of Brandon Gray's life. According to prosecutors, Smarr had purchased crack cocaine from Gray in a room at the motel. After the transaction, Smarr followed Gray into the hallway and demanded his money back. When Gray refused, Smarr produced a handgun and fired the fatal shot. Following a weeklong trial in 2016, a jury found Christopher Smarr guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and robbery. He was subsequently sentenced to a term of 45 years to life in prison. Because he was a juvenile at the time of the crime, just weeks away from his 18th birthday, he was spared a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. Smarr later appealed his conviction, but the verdict was upheld by a state appellate court.
