PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A former fugitive wanted for months who pleaded guilty to murdering a 31-year-old man, then fleeing to another state, was sentenced in an emotional hearing to at least 10 years in prison.
Family members of Marquis Smith repeatedly told the judge through sobs that he wasn’t a bad person, calling the 2020 fatal shooting of Nico Reed Johnson, 31, a tragedy that went left.
His attorney Patrick Link called it “imperfect self-defense,” saying Smith, who was 19 at the time and not licensed to carry, suffered from trauma as a child that went untreated.
“This city is too much to deal with,” Smith’s aunt told the judge.
Related
But prosecutors said that in September of 2020, near 29th and Wharton streets, Smith shot Johnson multiple times in the face and body, even as he tried to run. Johnson was the boyfriend of Smith’s child’s mother, with whom he had a tumultuous relationship.
Loved ones say Smith was scared when he got into the victim’s car and drove off, avoiding arrest for months. He was arrested after a high speed police chase in North Carolina ended in a crash.
“You killed a good guy,” Johnson's uncle told Smith sternly, saying he was harmless. Smith apologized to the victim’s family, saying that he regrets his drastic decision everyday.
Prosecutors asked for 20-40 years in prison for Smith, while his defense asked for 5-15. Judge Lillian Ransom met them in the middle, sentencing Smith to 10-20 years in prison for third-degree murder, with credit for time served.
Related
