In the quiet town of Guthrie, Oklahoma, the life of 24-year-old Joseph William Angelo was tragically cut short in the early morning hours of April 5, 2017. Responding to reports of gunfire, authorities found Angelo in the front yard of a residence on South Oak Street, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a hospital in Oklahoma City, but succumbed to his injuries.
The brutal nature of the crime, with an autopsy later revealing Angelo had been shot more than 30 times, sent shockwaves through the community and prompted an intensive investigation.
The events leading to Angelo's death reportedly began with a drug deal that went awry earlier in the evening. According to court documents and witness testimony, an incident involving a marijuana transaction led to an altercation where one of the suspects, Reggie Dewayne Smith, was allegedly shot at. Fueled by anger, Reggie Smith is said to have gathered his cousin, Derrick Eugene Smith, and two other men, Bracey Jashawn Perry and Frederic Lavelle Veasley Jr., to seek revenge. The four men then traveled from Oklahoma City to Guthrie, arriving at the South Oak Street residence where they believed the individuals involved in the earlier incident were located.
The investigation into Joseph Angelo's murder led to the arrests of the four suspects. The legal proceedings that followed unraveled the roles each man allegedly played in the fatal shooting. Frederic Lavelle Veasley Jr. pleaded guilty to a charge of accessory to a felony and received a 12-year prison sentence. Bracey Jashawn Perry entered a guilty plea for first-degree murder and was sentenced to a life term, with all but the first 20 years suspended.
The cases against the Smith cousins were more complex. Derrick Eugene Smith eventually pleaded guilty for his involvement in the killing. Reggie Dewayne Smith, initially charged with first-degree murder, went to trial, which resulted in a hung jury. Subsequently, he accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to the lesser charge of conspiracy to commit a felony with a dangerous weapon, and was sentenced to ten years in prison.
