The alleged leader of the Border Boys gang was yesterday acquitted of murder.
After deliberating for over an hour, jurors acquitted Tony Smith of the February 8, 2012 shooting death of his cousin, Tristan Bartlett.
Smith's co-accused, Leroy Smith, was cleared of the murder charge on Friday after Senior Justice Jon Isaacs upheld a no case submission made by his lawyer, Michael Kemp.
A witness, whose identity was sealed by a court order, claimed that he saw Smith and Leroy Smith get into Bartlett's Honda Accord. The witness claimed he heard gunshots and saw both men flee the car.
The witness said he saw Tony Smith running toward him with a gun in his hand.
Another witness, Prince Young, claimed that he overheard Smith bragging about killing Bartlett about a week after his death.
For his part, Smith denied any gang affiliation. In fact, he said he came to Bartlett's aid by getting Jean Charles to drive him to the hospital.
Smith said he took Bartlett's girlfriend to the hospital in his car.
During cross-examination by Darnell Dorsette, Smith denied that he returned to the scene and feigned concern about Bartlett after committing the crime.
Smith said he stopped at the shooting site after he left his girlfriend's house because a crowd had assembled.
Smith said that the prosecution's witnesses had lied on him. He said that Young lied out of self-preservation as he had also been arrested as a suspect in Bartlett's death. Young admitted that he was arrested in connection with the murder when cross-examined by Smith's lawyer, Murrio Ducille.

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