By PATRICK ADRIAN
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WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. – Jurors in the trial of Gregory Smith, charged in the fatal shooting of a Springfield man in 2015, rendered a lesser verdict of voluntary manslaughter, after being unable to reach unanimous agreement on a charge of second-degree murder.
The seven-man, five-woman jury delivered the verdict at 11:30 a.m. after deliberating six hours. The jury entered deliberation at 3:15 p.m. on Monday and was sent home for the night at 6 p.m. by Judge Timothy Tomasi.
Court records state the shooting occurred during a heated exchange between Smith, 30, and victim Wesley Wing, 37, on April 18, 2015 near Springfield High School. Smith, after learning of a verbal altercation between Wing and Smith’s girlfriend Wendy Morris, approached Wing on South Street, according to court records. Smith drove a black Nissan Infinity while Wing walked toward Jake’s Market.
According to evidence and testimonies, Smith drove ahead of Wing, turned his vehicle around and turned onto the corner of Cheryl Lane to await Wing.
State prosecutors said that Smith fired five shots from his car at Wing with Wing still 10 feet from the vehicle.
Smith’s defense team contended that Smith acted in self defense, claiming that before Smith could step out of his car, Wing punched him and pushed his head against the steering wheel. Smith said he grabbed his gun and fired it from inside his vehicle.
State’s attorney Adam Korn told jurors during closing arguments that Smith’s account contradicted physical evidence. The entry wounds on Wing’s body were too far apart to have been fired at a range as close as Smith described. Second, the prosecutor asked, had Smith fired the gun from inside the vehicle, how did three shells end up across the street?
The prosecution also questioned why if Smith believed he acted in self-defense, he would disassemble the firearm, hide the weapon and the holster, clean the vehicle, switch cars and go into hiding.
Smith testified that he was scared of retribution after the shooting.
Before sending the jury to deliberate Tomasi instructed jurors to consider voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter if unable to reach a guilty finding of second-degree murder. The question to jurors was not whether Smith killed Wing but whether Smith acted with forethought.
Voluntary manslaughter includes killing in the heat of passion.
Jurors did not explain why some members disagreed with a second-degree murder charge. The jury on Monday afternoon asked about the angle of Smith’s vehicle when he parked it on Cheryl Lane.
Wing’s wife Sheila said after the trial that the verdict was not the closure for which their family was praying.
“He was a great husband, a great father, a great provider,” said Sheila Wing, “We all miss him.”
For now, Sheila said her family will await sentencing.
Voluntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.
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