Ja’naz Smith displayed little emotion as guilty verdicts were read Wednesday afternoon in Allen County Common Pleas Court.
J Swygart | The Lima News
LIMA — An Allen County jury deliberated for less than two hours Wednesday before returning guilty verdicts against a Lima teenager charged with murder.
Ja’naz Smith, one of two Lima teens charged in the Jan. 20, 2020 shooting death of 44-year-old Danielle Jackson behind Pappy’s bar, was immediately sentenced to a mandatory prison term of 28 years to life.
Smith, 18, was found guilty on counts of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, each of which included three-year firearm specifications, and tampering with evidence.
He showed little emotion when the verdicts were read other than to shake his head in a negative fashion. Upon the advice of his attorneys, who said an appeal is planned, Smith did not address the court prior to sentencing.
Assistant Allen County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Thines asked the court to impose the maximum possible prison sentence while defense attorney Steve Chamberlain asked for the minimum term, which is closer to what Judge Terri Kohlrieser imposed.
Closing arguments in the trial were held Wednesday morning, with prosecutors telling jurors they had heard testimony sufficient to find Smith guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on all counts.
Assistant Allen County Prosecuting Attorney Mariah Cunningham played an edited version of a Lima police detective’s interview with Smith that jurors had heard one day earlier. In the videotaped interview Smith tells investigators that he and co-defendant Jordan Daniel were walking the streets in the early morning hours of Jan. 20 when Daniel suggested they find a victim to rob. It was then that Jackson was seen standing behind Pappy’s bar.
“He (Daniel) asked me, ‘Is you ready?’” Smith told Detective Todd Jennings on the video. “And that’s when it happened.”
Smith said after Jackson told his young assailants he had no money, “that’s when the shots went off.” Smith claimed Daniel fired first, “then I closed my eyes and pulled the trigger” of the 9mm handgun he had in his possession.
Defense attorney Steve Chamberlain, in his final comments to jurors, suggested that Smith’s admissions amounted to little more than a false confession.
“I would ask you to view his confession in the light of his age and his situation. Here was a 15-year-old kid in a small room with two adult detectives who are trained in interrogation techniques. I think you’ll find that this is a perfect scenario for a confession to be false,” Chamberlain said.
Smith and Daniel, both 15 at the time, were indicted by a grand jury in January of 2021 on charges of aggravated murder with a firearm specification; two counts of aggravated robbery with a firearm specification; and tampering with evidence in connection with Jackson’s death.
Daniel was tried in juvenile court and was convicted on all charges.
Chamberlain criticized the decision to transfer Smith’s case from juvenile court to the common pleas court to be tried as an adult.
“I think it was a complete and utter mistake to bind over Ja’naz Smith (from the juvenile system) and not Jordan Daniel,” Chamberlain said.
