A Norteño gang associate who shot at the wrong home while, police say, he was trying to exact revenge on a gang rival was sentenced Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court to five years in prison.
Eddie L. Smith, 23, entered Alford pleas in February to second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and bail jumping in connection with the 2014 shooting and possession of cocaine with the intent to deliver, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and first-degree criminal impersonation in a separate case. An Alford plea allows a defendant to argue his innocence but admit there’s enough evidence that he could be found guilty.
Shortly before 2 a.m. April 19, 2014, Smith fired a 12-gauge shotgun at the front window of a house in the 6500 block of Kansas Street in Vancouver’s Northcrest neighborhood. However, the house didn’t belong to his rival; it belonged to a 79-year-old woman who was home at the time of the shooting, according to a probable cause affidavit. No one was injured, and the shots caused minor damage to the front of the house.
Police responded to the area after multiple 911 reports of gunfire. One witness reported hearing shots and then seeing a Geo Metro with a black passenger door leave the area. Police found three expended shotgun shells in the road, the affidavit states.
Officers located and stopped the suspect vehicle, which was occupied by three people. Witnesses positively identified it as the vehicle in the area at the time of the shooting, according to court documents. Police obtained a search warrant for the contents of a cellphone inside the vehicle and found text messages, which showed Smith had “a desire to commit the drive-by shooting,” the affidavit states.
In one text to a friend, Smith wrote, “Tryna get a ride to go blast someones house but nobodys down,” court records show.
About 20 minutes after the text message exchange, witnesses began reporting the shots, according to court documents.
Police observed a photo on Facebook of Smith holding a shotgun similar to the suspected weapon and obtained another search warrant for his residence. During the search, they seized three firearms, including a 12-gauge shotgun, and arrested Smith, the affidavit says.
Smith denied any involvement in the shooting and claimed to have no knowledge of the firearms found in his house, according to court records. However, when police showed him a mugshot of his rival, who belongs to the Sureño gang, Smith admitted that he had a previous altercation with the man and that he would spit in his face if he had the opportunity, court documents state.
Deputy Prosecutor Aaron Bartlett said Wednesday that while Smith was out on bail in the case, he failed to show up for a trial readiness hearing in June 2015 and was picked up nearly a year later.
In that case, Washington State Patrol troopers attempted to pull over a silver SUV about 12:15 a.m. April 8, 2016, on southbound Interstate 5 at Milepost 3.5, but the driver refused to stop. The vehicle took the Main Street exit traveling south and drove to the Arnada Pointe Apartments off of Northeast Hazel Dell Avenue, where the driver parked, according to a separate probable cause affidavit.
The driver, later identified as Smith, gave a false name and age, court records show. The officers reportedly saw drugs inside the vehicle, which later field-tested positive for marijuana and cocaine. Police recovered 29.6 grams of cocaine, scales and a loaded .22 caliber pistol, the affidavit states.
During sentencing, Smith’s attorney, David Kurtz, asked that his client be sentenced to a total of 52 months in prison, rather than the 72 months Bartlett asked for. Kurtz denied that Smith is a gang member and said that Smith was attacked twice by the person police claim is from the rival gang.
“If I had a chance to make it right, I would,” Smith told Judge Derek Vanderwood, adding that he’d like a second chance.
Vanderwood opted to split the difference of the attorneys’ sentencing requests and handed down a 62-month sentence. Smith was given some credit for time served.
