BALTIMORE — Gerald Smith was sentenced to life on Wednesday for the murders of Brittaney Hayes-Smith and Marvis Pollock.
On May 2, 2021, officers responded to the 2600 block of West Fairmount Avenue for a shot spotter alert of multiple gunshots. When they arrived, police located a man, who was identified as Pollock, suffering from gunshot wounds to the face and upper body.
Pollock was taken to a shock trauma hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased. Ballistic evidence was recovered from the scene.
During the investigation, detectives were able to identify Smith as the suspected shooter. Cellphone surveillance revealed that Smith was on scene at the 2600 block of West Fairmount Avenue at the time of the murder.
Video evidence recovered from a convenience store also revealed Smith inside the store before the shooting occurred. The footage showed that Smith left the store, returned to the car he arrived in, grabbed something from inside the car, and then ran towards the crime scene immediately before people in the block began dispersing.
A witness also positively identified Smith in the video, other witnesses placed Smith at the scene at the time of the shooting.
While detectives were on scene at West Fairmount, they were informed that the same suspect committed a murder on May 3, 2021.
Officers responded to the 2800 block of Clifton Park Terrace. They met a man at the scene who said that he came to the residence to check on his daughters well-being. He found his daughter, Hayes-Smith, lying unresponsive on the living room floor.
Medics arrived and pronounced Hayes-Smith deceased at 12:04 p.m. on May 4, 2021. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide by gunshot wounds.
Further investigations revealed that Hayes-Smith moved out of the residence on Clifton Park Terrace two months prior. At the time, the residence was solely occupied by her estranged husband, Gerald Smith.
On March 1, 2021, witnesses were with Hayes-Smith at a sports bar and restaurant and then left that location with her to go to a friend's home. According to police, Smith found out where Hayes-Smith was located that night and arrived at the sports bar, later following her to her friends house.
Hayes-Smith was last seen leaving her friends house at 2:15 a.m. and getting into Smith's vehicle with him.
A witness stated on May 2, 2021, they were on the front porch of their residence and they did not see Smith's car at that time. The witness returned to their porch at 4:30 a.m. and and saw Smith's car parked in front of the eventual crime scene. They also heard four gunshots emanate that area.
A search and seizure warrant was executed at the home, where one 9mm Luger shell casing, one 9mm cartridge casing, and 13 9mm Luger live rounds were recovered. The casings matched the same ones recovered at the Fairmount crime scene.
A one-way phone call was conducted between a witness and Smith, who admitted on the to phone to murdering Hayes-Smith.
Smith was arrested in June of 2021 in Georgia, he was later extradited back to Baltimore.
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A Baltimore City judge handed down two life sentences, to be served concurrently.
“This defendant is a repeat violent offender who took two lives in two days with clearly no regard for humanity or the law,” said State’s Attorney Ivan Bates. “It is apparent to me that he should never be on the streets of our city again. My heart goes out to the families and community members impacted by these devastating acts of violence.”
