A Poplar Bluff man will spend the next 18 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections after he was sentenced Tuesday for his role in the 2019 death of a Thayer man.
Kahlil Gregory Smith was sentenced Tuesday by 36th Circuit Presiding Judge Michael Pritchett to 18 years on the Class A felony of second-degree murder and 18 years on the unclassified felony of armed criminal action. Both sentences are to be served concurrently.
In a plea deal with Oregon County Prosecutor Justin Kelley, Smith pre-empted his change-of-venue trial in Butler County by pleading guilty in September to both charges. He withdrew earlier not-guilty pleas.
Smith was represented by public defender Michael Ligons and the state was represented by Kelley.
The charges against Smith resulted from an investigation into a shooting which happened at a Thayer home on April 4, 2019, and resulted in the death of Daniel A. Carroll. Smith was later arrested near Doniphan by Ripley County deputies after fleeing from the scene.
According to earlier reports, shots rang out on Adams Street in Thayer and a neighbor reported seeing a white SUV leave the residence at a high rate of speed.
A witness identified a Doniphan woman and her boyfriend, later identified as Smith, as having been at the home when the shooting took place.
“The Thayer woman stated that she had been in the bathroom of the residence and heard multiple gunshots,” Thayer Assistant Police Chief Luke Martin previously said. “When she exited the bathroom, she observed Daniel Carroll lying on the ground of her residence with multiple gunshot wounds.”
The woman also reported hearing the SUV leave at a high rate of speed.
A description of the vehicle was sent out and it later was stopped by Ripley County Sheriff’s Department officers near Doniphan.
The woman and Smith were detained and interviewed, and Smith admitted to being at the Thayer residence.
“Smith believed Carroll had been making sexual advances toward (the Doniphan woman), who Smith was in a relationship with,” Martin said. “Smith also stated he had been smoking methamphetamine that evening.”
Based on his suspicion about Carroll, Martin said, Smith retrieved a pistol he brought with him.
“He told me that he blacked out and did not remember shooting Carroll, but later stated he thought he had missed when shooting at Carroll,” Martin said. “Smith said following this incident, he recalled forcing (his girlfriend) to drive him away from the residence.”
Smith’s girlfriend, Martin said, reported seeing “Smith fire a handgun multiple times in the direction she had last seen Daniel Carroll.”