On a summer day in Waterbury, Connecticut, a 35-year-old man named Terry Smith tragically lost his life. On August 12, 2017, Smith was fatally shot in the head. He was rushed to a local hospital but succumbed to his injuries shortly after his arrival. The incident that led to his untimely death unfolded outside the Tree Top Café on East Farm Road. Smith had accompanied a friend, Kenneth Martin, to the location.
While Martin went inside the establishment, Smith remained in the driver's seat of Martin's Acura.
It was then that Smith noticed Robert Williams, a man with whom Martin's friends reportedly had an ongoing dispute. Smith alerted his friend to Williams's presence. Surveillance footage from outside the bar captured the subsequent events. The footage showed Williams approaching Martin, who then drew a firearm and began shooting. Williams, who was also armed, returned fire. During this exchange of gunfire, Terry Smith, who was still in the car, was struck in the head by a stray bullet.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, police launched an investigation that quickly led to a suspect. Later on the same day of the incident, authorities arrested 46-year-old Robert Williams, charging him with murder. Williams, who had also sustained a gunshot wound to his leg during the altercation, was taken into custody. Both Terry Smith and Robert Williams were reported to have prior criminal records.
Robert Williams's case proceeded to trial, where he faced a murder charge. In 2022, a jury acquitted him of murder but found him guilty of first-degree manslaughter with a firearm. However, this was not the final chapter in the legal proceedings. In a significant development, the Connecticut Supreme Court later ordered a new trial for Williams. The court's decision was based on the determination that the trial judge had failed to properly instruct the jury on the concept of self-defense as it related to the manslaughter charge. The higher court noted that since the jury had been instructed on self-defense for the murder charge, of which he was acquitted, the same instructions should have been applied to the lesser charge of manslaughter. This ruling has reopened the case, leaving the final outcome in the death of Terry Smith yet to be determined.
