Nasha Smith was a sweet, spunky, and playful five-year-old girl, described by those who knew her as a total comedian. The life of Nasha, a White female, was cut tragically short on the evening of April 11, 2019, in a wave of violence that also claimed the lives of her mother and older sister in their Phoenix, Arizona, home.
That night, Nasha’s father, 30-year-old Austin Smith, returned home from a bar around 8:15 p.m.
He confronted his wife, 29-year-old Dasia Patterson, accusing her of having an affair with his brother. When she denied it, he shot and killed both her and Nasha. He then killed their seven-year-old daughter, Mayan Smith, with blunt force trauma because she was crying. The couple’s youngest daughter, a three-year-old, was found physically unharmed by police after she hid under a bed during the attacks. Smith later told investigators he spared her because she reminded him of himself, while his other daughters reminded him of their mother.
After killing his family, Smith drove to an apartment complex where he believed his brother was staying. There, he encountered Ron Freeman, a 46-year-old family friend. When Freeman told Smith he was crazy to think his wife was cheating, Smith shot him repeatedly, killing him. He then grabbed a rifle from his car and shot and wounded two other people at the scene before driving away.
Police officers, responding to reports of a shooting at the apartment complex, stopped Smith in his vehicle a short distance away and took him into custody without incident. Information gathered at the scene of his arrest led officers to the family’s home, where they discovered the bodies of Dasia, Nasha, and Mayan. Smith confessed to the killings, telling police that God had told him to do it and that he believed his religion made it acceptable to kill someone for adultery.
Austin Smith was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, and three counts of aggravated assault. Though his defense lawyers argued that mental illness played a role in the killings, Smith pleaded guilty to four counts of murder in a deal with prosecutors in November 2019. In February 2020, a judge sentenced him to four consecutive natural life prison sentences.
