In a tragic turn of events that afternoon in Columbus, Mississippi, Robert E. Smith Jr., a 39-year-old Black male, was shot and killed in his own home on December 14, 2016. The incident, which unfolded at his residence on Temple Cove, would soon reveal a troubled family history. Smith, the eldest son of then-Columbus Mayor Robert Smith Sr., sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the abdomen and was pronounced dead at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle.
The investigation into the
homicide was led by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. In a surprising development, Smith's own son, 20-year-old Davius Roshard Smith, turned himself in to authorities and was subsequently arrested and charged with murder. Davius, who lived at the same address as his father, was booked into the Lowndes County Jail. The narrative of the case, however, was far from straightforward.
From the outset, Davius Smith's defense attorney claimed the shooting was an act of self-defense. This claim was central to the subsequent legal proceedings. According to court documents, an altercation between father and son escalated to the point where Robert Smith Jr. allegedly pressed a gun to Davius's face and threatened his life. In response, Davius retrieved a gun and fired a single shot, striking his father. He then fled the scene.
The case brought to light a history of domestic violence. Davius Smith described his father as a violent man and recounted witnessing his father's abuse of his mother on multiple occasions. This history, coupled with the immediate threat to his life, formed the basis of his self-defense claim. After reviewing the evidence, including Davius's statements and the family's history, a Lowndes County grand jury chose not to indict him. The grand jury concluded there was not enough evidence to proceed with a murder trial, and the district attorney did not plan to pursue the indictment further unless new information came to light. Davius Smith had been out on a $100,000 bond and, with the grand jury's decision, was cleared of the charge.
