Smith, Shadeed Barnett, 35, and Teray Marshall Jr., 24, are serving prison sentences after a jury convicted them of felonious assault in 2008.
Barnett and Marshall pleaded guilty Friday morning to the murder charge and were sentenced to 15 years to life by Butler County Common Pleas Judge Michael Sage.
Smith, who is serving a 21-year sentence, faces an additional 28 years to life if he is found guilty of murder.
Assistant Prosecutor Josh Muennich told the jury, “This case is about a war zone that produced four people shot and one young man by the name of DeMarco Conley critically injured.”
An incident on the night of Sept. 19, 2007, at the former Grand Illusion bar spilled over into Townhomes West apartments off Main Street where a crowd had gathered to watch a fist fight.
That is when Smith — sitting in the driver’s seat — began circling the complex in a Ford Taurus. When the car was parked, those inside opened fire on the gathering of individuals, said Muennich during opening statements.
In total, 26 shell casings were recovered by police in a crime scene that spanned three blocks. In addition to people shot, residences were riddled with rounds.
Muennich said the evidence will not show that Smith pulled the trigger, but that he is complicit in the death of DeMarco Conley.
Defense attorney Patrick Mulligan told the jury, there will be no evidence that Smith “shot, encouraged others to shoot or gave transportation to anyone who shot.”
Mulligan pointed to a taped statement from Conley used at the first trial and expected to be played at this trial in which he says, “there were two guys on foot running through the neighborhood with long guns.”
He said Conley was one of those who fought at the bar earlier and went to the neighborhood to recruit help to continue the fight.
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