WINFIELD, W.Va. — A man who killed his five week old son will spend the rest of his life in prison. Judge Joseph Reeder Friday sentenced Robert Jeremy Smith, 34, of Hurricane to life without mercy.
Smith pleaded guilty to the murder of his five week old son Madden in May 2014. Prosecutors agreed to the plea to insure all facts in the case would be available in passing sentence.
“Even though I think jurors do the best they can with the information they have, they sometimes they don’t have all of the information,” said Assistant Putnam County Prosecutor Kris Raynes. “With a judge doing the sentencing, we have the opportunity to submit everything to this judge.”
The circumstances of the baby’s death were shocking. The child suffered a severe head trauma while in Smith’s care. The injury killed the child, but Smith waited more than 24 hours before telling anybody about the incident.
“My theory is the baby may have been fussy and may have cried,” Raynes said in speculating on a motive. “He told police the baby cried and cried more than any of his children. I think it was parental frustration.”
However, during the sentencing the part of the case which apparently carried the most weight was Smith’s refusal to immediately seek medical attention. Raynes said Smith feared for himself rather than his baby boy.
“The defendant’s mother is a nurse, the hospital was five minutes away and that’s exactly what Judge Reeder said. He showed this baby no mercy in trying to save his life,” Raynes said. “His own self preservation kicked in and he knew there were things that didn’t look right in this situation which could potentially harm him. He waited so long, past the point in time where this baby could have received medical care.”
The crime occurred at Smith’s home in Hurricane, but wasn’t discovered until a day later when he drive the child to Charleston to inform the mother about what happened. Charleston Police responded and found the baby dead in a car seat in the back seat of Smith’s vehicle.
The crime shocked the conscious of the community.
“It sure does, not only because it’s a child, but also because there’s a familial relationship with the child,” said Raynes.