Victim’s Mother Says She ‘Feels like She has No Rights’

By D.C. Witness Staff - August 30, 2019
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

During a felony status conference Aug. 29, a victim’s mother asked a judge to reject a guilty plea from a murder defendant.

Robert Smith, 23, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter on Aug. 29 for his involvement in the shooting of 19-year-old Nya Howard-Reynolds on the unit block of 57th Place, SE on December 4, 2018.

The victim’s mother spoke in court about her disagreement with the plea deal. She asked DC Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe to reject the plea deal since she “felt like she had no real rights” and instead give her “adequate retribution for her loss.”

She said she already knew that DC sentencing guidelines were going to be lenient and she did not want there to be any sort of plea deal offered for Smith.

She also said how shocked she is that this was now her reality, without her daughter, and she had only been notified about the plea agreement 24 hours before going to the hearing.

Judge Iscoe explained that she does have a right to submit victim impact statements and come to every court proceeding.

However he said, she does not have a right to control the sentence Smith receives and she cannot stop the process of a plea agreement from happening.

Judge Iscoe also said that a sentencing recommendation does not mean he has to rule within the recommendation. Instead, he said he considers all the facts of the case as well as victim impact statements and what sentencing would deter a defendant from committing another offense, adequate retribution for the victim, rehabilitation for the defendant and if a defendant was incapacitated at any point while entering into a plea.

The prosecution also told the victim’s mother that the case is “technically the USA v. Robert Smith” and that they are the prosecuting body that “holds the power to determine if and when plea deals are offered.”

The prosecution and the defense agreed to a sentencing recommendation where Smith would serve between six and twelve years in prison.

Had Smith not pleaded guilty he could have faced between 30 and 60 years in prison for his initial second-degree murder charge.

Smith’s sentencing is scheduled on Nov. 15.

According to court documents, Howard-Reynolds went to visit Smith at his apartment. Smith was attempting to take a selfie video while holding a gun when the gun fired, striking Howard-Reynolds in the neck.