In October 2014, Kelsey Smith beat his stepdaughter, Jeida Torres, to d*eath and severely beat her 5-year-old brother, who survived. The 5-year-old gave police a full account of the horrific day Smith beat his sister to d*eath, helping put the monster away for 15 years to life.
Smith shared an apartment in Brooklyn with Jeida’s mother. The event happened about three months after the couple got married. Just a few days before the incident, the tenants at the house were approved by a social worker. However, a neighbour in the same complex told the New York Post that she heard screaming every night. “He beats her up every night, and she screams.” “After the beating, he pretended like nothing happened and said she was going out with other men,” the neighbour said. “She laughed and went on, and the babies were still c*rying.”
One day, Jeida pooped in her nappy, which made Smith very angry.
5-Year-Old Talks to Police
On October 18, 2014, Smith called his working-wife Kimberly Torres to tell her that he “messed up and hit Jeida and that she was not breathing.” Then Kimberly called the police, who came and found the girl passed out in the flat. He then fled the apartment.
Jeida was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Centre right away, but she was already dead when they got there.
While yelling “Eat it!” Smith pushed the dirty diaper into Jeida’s face and then kicked her and hit her head against the baby cot frame. Then he choked his sister, Andrew, 5, told police from his hospital room, where he was listed as stable.
Jeida died of blunt force trauma to the head, her de*ath ruled a h*omicide.
Andrew attempted to help his sister as Smith took out his rage against her. That’s when Smith attacked him, leaving him battered and bruised. Andrew went on to make a complete recovery. Family members say he has no recollection of the incident.
Smith Allegedly Attempts Suicide
Smith is said to have tried to ki*ll himself by slitting his wrists after the attack when he ran to his mother’s house in Queens. His mother was worried about his health, so she called the police, who took him to a nearby hospital to get help. He was later caught and charged with assault and endangering a child under 17 years old. Later, the second charge was raised to second-degree murder.
Lengthy Criminal History
Smith, who was only 20 years old at the time of the crime, had been arrested 15 times before. One of them was for robbery in 2010, when he slammed a 14-year-old boy into a gate, kicked him, put his knee in his throat, and stole $10 from him while he was in a juvenile detention facility. He also had a history of assault charges, including ones against correctional officers while he was a pr*isoner on Rikers Island.
Smith Accepts Plea Deal
Smith was facing 50 years to life for Jeida’s murder and the assault on the young boy, however, accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty to lesser charges to get the reduced sentence. He serves his time in a New York pri*son.
Smith Contends He Meant to Se*xually Assault, Not Ki*ll, Infant
“The evidence suggests that Autumn’s de*ath was a terrible accident,” lawyers Tyson Fleming and Joseph Wilhelm wrote in a brief for their client Steven Smith that was sent to the Ohio Appeals Court. Smith was given the d*eath penalty for k*illing Autumn Carter, his girlfriend’s 6-month-old daughter. He said that while he meant to se*xually assault the baby, he did not mean to hurt or ki*ll her. The state chose to only charge Smith with murder. Ohio law says that a clear intent to k*ill must be shown before a person can be put to d*eath. Smith said he was too drunk to understand that what he did would ki*ll Autumn. So, if he didn’t mean to ki*ll the baby, his d*eath sentence should be changed to life in pr*ison.
