By Ray King
After deliberating for an hour-and-a-half Wednesday, a Jefferson County jury found Bryant Lamont Smith, 36, guilty of two counts of Capital murder, one count of attempted capital murder and multiple other offenses that all happened the same day.
He was found guilty in the death of Emonya Moten, 17, at 1704 S. Elm, the death of Kavon Mitchell, 20, at No. 23 Needles Drive, and the attempted murder of Cedric Lapoole, 69, that occurred on Lilac Street, with all of them occurring Sept. 3, 2020.
Circuit Judge Alex Guynn sentenced Smith to life in prison without the possibility of parole on those three charges, life in prison on five counts of committing a terroristic act, life in prison on five counts of discharging a firearm from a vehicle, all Class Y felonies; 40 years for terroristic act, a Class B felony, 40 years for discharging a firearm from a vehicle a Class B felony, and 40 years for unauthorized use of property to facilitate a crime.
Chief Deputy Prosecutors Jill Reed and Cymber Tadlock and Deputy Prosecutor Joe West represented the state during the three-day trial which began Monday and Prosecuting Attorney S. Kyle Hunter said, “they did a fantastic job of presenting the facts of the case to the jury.”
He also credited the work of the Pine Bluff Police Department and particularly Detective Jason Boykin for “getting a violent criminal off the streets.”
Smith was represented by Little Rock attorneys Bobby Digby and Toney Braswell.
