In December 2014, on a Phoenix hiking trail, 19-year-old Khalli Lawrence's life was tragically cut short. She was discovered on a footpath along a wash after a resident heard a baby crying and found her on the ground with her infant daughter next to her. Lawrence had been shot in the back of the head and was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Her 2-month-old daughter was also shot in the thigh but survived the horrific attack.
The investigation into the shooting quickly focused on
Lawrence's ex-boyfriend, Allyn Akeem Smith. The motive for the brutal crime was linked to a paternity test that was scheduled to take place. Lawrence had applied for welfare benefits, which necessitated the test to establish paternity for child support proceedings. Court records revealed that Smith had been disturbed by the pregnancy and had denied to another woman he was seeing that he was the child's father.
In early February 2015, Allyn Akeem Smith surrendered to the authorities and was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and child abuse. He was subsequently convicted of premeditated first-degree murder and child abuse. For the murder of Khalli Lawrence, Smith was sentenced to death. He also received a 24-year prison sentence for the conviction of child abuse related to the shooting of their infant daughter. The Arizona Supreme Court later upheld both the convictions and the sentences.
