Editor’s Note: The following story depicts graphic images of domestic violence.
Davius Smith feared for his life the day he shot his father to death in the family’s home.
A Lowndes County grand jury Monday morning opted not to indict Smith in the Dec. 14, 2016, incident that claimed the life of Robert E. Smith Jr., son of Columbus Mayor Robert E. Smith Sr. The decision means the grand jury did not find enough evidence to move the murder charge to trial in Lowndes County Circuit Court.
Davius Smith’s statement to investigators, included in court documents, said his father began an altercation with him in their 169 Temple Cove residence that afternoon.
It escalated to Robert Smith Jr. pressing the barrel of a gun to his son’s face and threatening to kill him. Davius told investigators he then pulled a gun from a dresser drawer in his room, closed his eyes and squeezed off one shot before running away from the house. While running, he stated “I threw the gun as far as I could throw it.”
Robert Smith Jr. died later that day at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle from a gunshot wound to the stomach. Police statements from the MBI file indicate officers found a loaded AK-47-style pistol, a .380-caliber, lying beside him when they arrived to the scene.
Davius, then 20, turned himself in to authorities the next day, and was arraigned for murder on Dec. 17. He was released from Lowndes County Adult Detention Center after posting $100,000 bond.
Davius’ attorney, Rod Ray, said his client cooperated fully with investigators and he had said he was acting in self-defense “from the get-go.”
“It does not surprise me at all,” Ray said about the grand jury’s decision. “I’m a true believer in the system and in my client, as well.”
District Attorney Scott Colom said he respected the grand jury’s decision and unless he receives new information on the case, he does not plan to represent it for indictment.
A history of violence
In his statement, Davius characterized his father as a man who had a history of violence and was not afraid of the police.
“I witnessed him beat my mom and pull guns on her. I also knew he was not afraid to use a weapon,” the statement reads. “… I had watched him on several occasions slam the door to our house on the police when they responded to my mother’s calls for help.”
He said his mother often changed her story once police arrived to complaint calls because she was afraid of her husband’s reprisals.
In Davius’ mother’s statement to investigators, she said her husband, unemployed at the time, was often angry and looking for a reason to fight. She said she had returned home from a night shift working at Paccar at about 12:40 a.m. the morning of the shooting, and Robert Jr. began cursing and shoving her because she had not called him to let him know she’d be late.
At one point he grabbed her by the throat and threatened to kill her, she said. Over the four months previous, she told investigators her husband had become increasingly angered by her late work hours.
Davius’ mother became pregnant with Davius around the time she finished high school, according to her statement.
The abuse began shortly thereafter when she wanted to marry Robert Jr., but he resisted the idea.
“I finally told him I wasn’t going to live with a man I wasn’t married to. He got angry and beat me. We then went out looking for wedding rings,” she told police.
Davius tried to “go with the flow,” according to his mother’s statement, and eventually became apathetic to the abuse because he knew she would not follow through when the police arrived.
She left Robert Jr. several times, she said, but never sought a divorce because she didn’t want negative publicity; she was afraid of her husband and “I knew he would come looking for me.”
Incident reports
The incident reports in the investigatory file appear to back up Davius’ mother’s claims. Several reports involving Robert Jr., dating back to 2000, were domestic dispute calls to his Temple Cove residence. Others involved traffic stops and instances of alleged assault and threatening various victims, some of whom were women.
In October 2016, the most recent report before the shooting, police responded to Davius’ mother’s complaint her husband was “cussing and pulling the covers” and that her son couldn’t sleep with all the noise.
Police arrived and advised Davius’ mother they couldn’t make her husband leave. She then said she would leave but later changed her mind. There were no signs of a physical struggle between Robert Jr. and his wife at that time, the report says.
Reporter Isabelle Altman contributed to this article.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.