PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A video expert and medical examiner were two of the expert witnesses who took the stand Tuesday in the murder trial against Justin Smith, the Philadelphia man accused of killing his girlfriend Dianna Brice — and their unborn child — in 2021.
Brice, 21, was 14 weeks pregnant with a boy when prosecutors said Smith shot and killed her, and then hid her body with help. The medical examiner told jurors she was shot 11 times in the left side of her head.
A homicide detective showed the jury surveillance video of Smith and another woman, Tylydia Garnett, parking a white Hyundai near a garage in Kensington. The video then showed Garnett carrying trash bags towards the garage, before both suspects put something that appeared heavy in the trunk. The car was shown driving towards Cobbs Creek, where prosecutors say it was set on fire.
Garnett pleaded guilty for her involvement in 2023 and served two years in prison.
The officer who found her testified about trash bags covering most of her body with part of her stomach showing, as prosecutors showed jurors a corresponding photo. Brice’s family was visibly upset.
Jurors also heard testimony from Smith’s half-sister, who was Brice’s best friend. She said Brice was excited about being pregnant and the two were planning a gender reveal. Brice texted her saying she wanted to “off herself” over a medical issue, with the friend replying, “Stay strong.”
Brice’s mother testifies on trial’s first day
Brice’s mother had last seen her at a laundromat in Delaware County. She went missing in late March 2021 and was found dead days later wrapped in a comforter and trash bags in Southwest Philadelphia. She testified on Monday that her daughter was crying in the backseat of her car with Smith before they left in his car.
The defense argued that Brice was upset and threatened to kill herself with a gun in Smith’s car, claiming the gun went off accidentally after a struggle between the two.
Brice's mother identified Smith in surveillance footage taking his car to a garage in Kensington later that day.
Prosecutors alleged that that is where he and Garnett moved Brice’s dead body to another car before leaving Smith’s car on fire in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood.
Brice’s mother told the jury the last time she heard from her daughter was through text.
The last time Brice’s mother heard from Smith, she threatened to call the police and put out a missing persons report. She said Smith told her not to and hung up.
She said Smith also told her Brice got out of his car in West Philly and refused to get back in.
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.
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 will resume Thursday, with prosecutors set to wrap up their case. Smith is expected to testify later this week.
