PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The first-degree murder trial for a man accused of killing his girlfriend and unborn child five years ago is set to begin Monday morning.
Dianna Brice, 21, was four months pregnant with a boy when prosecutors said her boyfriend Justin Smith shot and killed her, and then hid her body with help.
Brice’s mother had last seen her at a laundromat. She went missing in late March 2021 and was found dead days later wrapped in a comforter and trash bags in Southwest Philadelphia.
Smith’s car was later found burning in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood.
Investigators said surveillance video, DNA, eyewitnesses and cellphone evidence pointed to Smith as the killer. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but he spent more than four years on the run until he was arrested last March in Atlanta during a traffic stop and was brought back to Philadelphia.
Another woman, Tylydia Garnett, pleaded guilty three years ago to abuse of corpse, hindering apprehension and arson — admitting she drove Smith down South to escape arrest. She spent two years in prison.
The trial is expected to last through the week.
