A jury from Suffolk County declared Shati Smith, 31, guilty of Bellport, for the murder of Lee Houpe, a 28 -year -old boy who was shot dead in June 2022 in what the authorities described as an unpaved and extremely violent attack.
According to the Suffolk County Prosecutor’s Office, the crime occurred on the afternoon of June 15, 2022, when Houpe was at the entrance of a friend’s house. According to the tests presented during the trial, Smith descended from his vehicle and shot three times against the victim. When Houpe fell to the ground, Smith approached him and shot him seven times more, reaching him on his face, arm and chest, until he caused death.
“The defendant was intended to kill Lee Houpe when he shot him three times and then stopped on him to shoot him seven times more,” said District Prosecutor Raymond A. Tierney, announcing the sentence. “We are tired of burying our young people and seeing families destroyed by a meaningless armed violence. Today justice was done, but the truly tragic thing is that this crime has occurred.”
After the shooting, Smith fled the state and was located weeks later in Virginia, where he was arrested by members of the Suffolk County Police Department. After a trial held before the Judge of the Supreme Court, Timothy Mazzei, on May 5, Smith was found guilty of second degree murder, a serious crime of class A, and two charges of criminal possession of a second degree weapon, both class crimes C.
Smith, represented by lawyer Jonathan Manley, will return to the Court to be sentenced on June 5, 2025, and could face a 25 -year sentence to life imprisonment.
The case was prosecuted by prosecutors Elena Tomao, of the Homicide Unit, and Veronica McMahon, of the Unit of Major Crimes. The investigation was in charge of Detective Michael Ronca, of the Suffolk County Police Homicide Squadron.
