UPDATE: Dwayne Scott Smail
MAN SENTENCED FOR SHOOTING TOT
by Nicholas Ledden, The Daily Inter Lake
06/03/2009–’He put that gun to the baby’s head’
An Evergreen man found guilty for the shooting death of his girlfriend’s 19-month-old daughter was sentenced Tuesday morning to 25 years at Montana State Prison.
Flathead County District Court Judge Stewart E. Stadler ordered Dwayne Scott Smail, 24, to serve the maximum sentence for negligent homicide plus an additional five years for being a persistent felony offender.
No restrictions were placed on his parole.
“This was not simply a case of a child playing with a gun,” said Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan, who asked Stadler to sentence Smail to 35 years in prison with five years suspended. “He put that gun to the baby’s head.”
Prosecutors maintain that evidence failed to support the claim that the March 5, 2008, shooting of Korbyn Eva May Williams was an accident, and that Smail has yet to tell the truth about what really happened.
“I thought that the circumstances of the offense, what he did, coupled with his criminal history, warranted the 35 years we recommended,” Corrigan said.
As a juvenile in Washington state, Smail was convicted of weapon, domestic abuse, burglary, possession of stolen property, and escape.
Defense attorney Steven N. Eschenbacher, however, asked that Stadler give Smail the opportunity “to fix what has never had a chance to be fixed.”
Eschenbacher, who recommended Smail receive 20 years in prison with 10 suspended, argued that the court impose a sentence commensurate with the crime he was convicted of.
“When someone dies that has the potential of a child … there’s a great need to remedy that in any way we can,” said Eschenbacher, who urged Stadler to consider the potential in his client.
The court heard emotional testimony Tuesday from several of Korbyn’s family members, many of whom wore shirts bearing her image.
“When you sleep at night, I want you to have the nightmares I have,” said Korbyn’s mother, Aimee Williams.
Carla Hayek, Korbyn’s grandmother, described the pain the toddler’s death has caused family members.
“You ripped holes in hundreds of people’s hearts in my family, and it will never be replaced… You do not realize what you’ve done,” Hayek said. “I want you to hurt as bad as you’ve caused pain for my family.”
Other family members asked that Smail be punished to the full extent of the law.
“You’ve proven yourself to be a liar and a deceiver, and you only think of yourself,” said Korbyn’s great-grandmother, Patty Williams. “You said you loved her like your own. Love doesn’t kill.”
Sharyle Miller, Korbyn’s great-aunt, told the court that what Smail did was “unforgivable.”
In a short statement before his sentence was imposed, Smail expressed remorse for Korbyn’s death.
“Words can not express the pain and guilt I feel for what has happened,” he said. “I regret my actions for what has happened. I do want to say I’m sorry to the family. I’m sorry, Aimee.”
A Flathead County jury in March 2009 deliberated three hours before finding Smail, who was on trial for deliberate homicide, guilty of the lesser murder charge.
During testimony, Smail – who originally claimed the child shot herself – admitted shooting Korbyn once in the head with a 9 mm Ruger pistol while he was taking care of her at the Montana Village apartment complex on Montana 35 in Evergreen.
Smail shared the apartment with Korbyn and her mother, who was at work at a Kalispell restaurant when the shooting occurred.
Smail told jurors he awoke to find Korbyn in a corner of the bed, holding the gun by the barrel. As he reached for the weapon, Smail said he was distracted by a light outside the studio apartment and as he grabbed for the pistol, it discharged.
But the jury also heard from several forensic experts, including a blood-spatter analyst and medical examiner, who testified that Smail actually was leaning forward holding the gun to Korbyn’s head when it discharged.
Prosecutors, however, were unable to provide evidence of intent or proof that Smail knew the gun was loaded when he pulled the trigger
So genius here wants us to believe that he pointed a 9MM at a toddler’s head and, thinking the weapon was unloaded, pulled the trigger. Of course, imagine his surprise when the gun went off! That means one of two things – he’s either a complete moron and a bald faced liar. Go ahead and guess what my vote’s going to be.
As far as mom’s hand in all this, I refuse to speculate. It’s now a moot point whether Dwayne was careless with his weapon around Korbyn, and if Aimee allowed him to babysit her child knowing he was unsafe, then she will have to come to terms with that some day. The fact is all of that is pure speculation – what we should be offering Aimee is our support. As things stand now, she is as much a victim of Dwayne Scott Smail as anyone else. All I can find for her in my heart is sympathy.
I think I might be getting too old for this job.
30 Comments »
OMG! The horror!
What a POS!
i do live every day with regret but that does not bring my daughter back and sitting around crying day in and day out does not help my 6 year old son i beat myself up everyday and no the gun was kept in the safe and yes we did have one time i asked him not to keep it out when i got home and he told me it was out and he promised it would not happen again and yes i should have left him and yes i do feel like a piece of shit but i cant change the fact i messed up and can not fix it but there is ALOT more to this story then what you all have read in the paper and thank you for your support max the cat
Seriously. Pick a better class of boyfriend. Here’s a hint (and I don’t mean to belittle your pain here): if he has a criminal record like that, it doesn’t matter how buff or hot he is, he’s a POS.
Aimee life is full of choices and decisions. Some easy like what to eat for suppper. some are very hard to make. Is that guy I like right for me? But the choice gets harder as you get older. You have a child. You had a child when you met him. You made a wrong decision. Based on what I have no idea. You have to live with the results of that choice. I do not envy you. I can only hopeyou have learned from this.
I pray for you and your child. I also pray that you have learned form this. If you haven’t then that is the worst of all as you still have a child that needs you.
Women, stop leaving your kids with your boyfriends. Period.
NOT ONLY BOYFRIENDS KILL KIDS, PARENTS, FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS AND STRANGERS KILL KIDS. ITS NOT EASY BEING A MOM AND IM SURE SHE WOULD NOT HAVE LEFT HER CHILD IF SHE SAW THIS COMING.
Not every boyfriend is a POS and would hurt and/or kill a child. I just hope the ones who do fry in hell with the rest of the evil fucks…
Amiee,
I do not think you did anything wrong but OMG the horror you must face every day would be horrendous! YOU are NOT the POS in this story! Your worst sin was trusting the wrong person.
I think you are a brave woman and I think if you knew what was going to happen you would have traded places with your baby girl.
You are right about your son. Just stay strong and don’t hesitate to reach out if you need help. Try to turn your grief into a positive driving force.
I will always think of you and what happened to your child and send healing thoughts and prayers your way! God Bless!
Aimee, I am so sorry for your loss. You’re in my prayers.
WTF does this mean?
I don’t know if the lawyer meant that Stadler should be allowed to fix HIMSELF, but it’s too late, asshole! And certainly there is no way to “fix” the destruction that he caused.
Jesus! Seriously. What in the hell do these people think? Where is the pity and compassion for the people who this man has destroyed? He is a murderer! I could give a fuck about his psyche now.
Oops – bad formatting – lol. The bottom box was supposed to be more of my rant =P
Editor-Man to the rescue!
When you want to close the quote box, don’t forget to add the backslash Maz (/blockquote)
i did not know about his past if i would have he would have never been in our lives
thank you people who give the support it means alot and i do try for positive things i devote my life to my son and work i really would have never left her if i would have known and i would trade places with my baby in an instant every day goes by and i think about her and miss her and wish i could turn back time and i’m sorry i didnt do a background check i mean honestly did you so one on your husband or wife come on now but thank you to those of you who have supported me
Aimee
Willing to bet that gun wasn’t licensed…there’s a warning sign right there.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I could NEVER imagine the pain.
GUNS KILL AND A LICENSE DOESNT STOP A BULLET!
Guns are lumps of metal fashioned together to for a weapon. They have to way of thinking, reacting or feeling.
People kill people. they use firearms, knives, cars, water, fire, poison, thier hands, bricks, boards, eletricity, scissors, hammers, chainsaws, rope, acid, explosives, plastic bags, clothes driers and what ever else you could imagine.
So Jennifer I would suggest you grow up a little before you make completly ignorant statments like the above.
Thank You and The gun was licensed it was a very legal that is one thing that adds to my pain is the fact it was my pistol i grew up with a dad that is a gun smith and have been around them my intire life we would go to my dads shooting and that was the reason for the gun as much as i love shooting i will never have a pistol in my house again well i will never have a man living with me again anyways
My God, this is just so terrible. I just can’t understand. Can someone please explain to me the logic in hurting an innocent child? I don’t get it!!
~Aimee, I am so very sorry for you. You are living my worst nightmare. You, your family, and your baby girl are all in my prayers.
AIMEE SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS. I HAVE THREE YOUNG DAUGHTERS AND CANT IMAGINE THE PAIN YOU ARE GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW. I ALSO GREW UP AROUND GUNS BUT NOW WITH SMALL CHILDREN IM TERRIFIED TO KEEP ONE IN MY HOUSE, I DONT EVEN LET MY KIDS GO PLAY AT OTHER KIDS HOUSE BECAUSE I WORRY THERE MIGHT BE GUNS IN THE HOUSE. EVEN WITH RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNERS SHIT HAPPENS! I JUST DONT FEEL THAT THE BENEFITS OF OWNING A GUN OUTWEIGHT THE RISKS OF OWNING A GUN. DONT BEAT YOURSELF UP OVER IT SHES IN A BETTER PLACE THAN WE ARE.
thank you i too no longer have them around and if i would have known he never would have been around and there never would have been a gun around i cant imagine what my baby went through that night cause i was stupid and left her with a piece of shit but he treated her like a princess he called her his daughter she called him daddy he did not carry the gun on him like some people tend to think and he never acted this way around her ever he acted like she was his life and thank you again ladies for your support
YOU WILL ONLY GET THROUGH THIS IF YOU CAN IGNORE WHAT ALOT OF PEOPLE THINK OR HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT. I HAVE A 22 MONTH OLD BABY AND I CAN BET THAT YOUR BABY HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS HAPPENING, KIDS DONT KNOW EVIL IM SURE IT WAS VERY SUDDEN AND IM SURE SHE DIDNT EVEN KNOW TO BE SCARED. YOU AND YOUR SON AND YOUR FAMILY ARE THE ONES WHO HAVE TO FEEL THE PAIN BECAUSE SHE IS OKAY NOW AND NOBODY CAN EVER HURT HER AGAIN.
Jesus. Quit Yelling.
Why do people on this site automatically believe the people referenced in articles are really the ones posting? Seems pretty unlikely to me.
It does seem unlikely, but it happens to us every now and then. It’s pretty simple to trace an IP and make sure it’s coming from the right area of the country – in fact, it’s accurate to the city or town of the poster. It’s not a perfect way to verify someone’s ID, but why would so many folks want to go to so much trouble to spoof us and never let anyone else in on the joke? I guess it’s a matter of faith when you’re dealing with someone like Aimie here – My experience just tells me she is who she says she is.
We’ve been successfully trolled once or twice by people who claimed they were friends of someone we did a writeup on, complaining about our story, but most of the time I catch on after the 2nd or third comment.
i am who i say i am i did post my phone number so if you really dont believe i am who i say i am just call me. it is me
No need. If Max says you is who you is then it’s good.
I hope you learn that the gun didn’t kill your daughter. A slimeball with no respect for anything killed your daughter. I can understand you being bitter. I can even go so far as to support your decision and the reasons behind it.
I also grew up with weapons. I still have a good sized collection. But I respect my weapons and what they can do. they can maim and kill. but on the other hand I love the feel and even the smell of a weapon. I love the fact that thousands of hours were put in to developing the model in to a product that is both reliable and durable.
I spent 4 years in the Army. I am a veteran of the first gulf war in 91. I was an infantry man. I have pulled a trigger on another human being wiht the inten to wound or kill him. Not an easy task at all. But I have done it. No I don’t see it as murder. I have come to terms with what I went through and I am better for it. It took time for me to understand that it wasn’t my M-16 A2 that was doing the shooting but me. holding the weapon, pulling the trigger and aiming again. It was me. Just as it was that snot rag that picked the weapon up, pointed it and pulled the trigger. The weapon was only doing what it was made to do. the person holding it is the killer. Not the gun.
I am truely sorry for what you have been through and what you are going through. I will be praying for you and your family. I hope you find peace wiht your past so that you can have a good future.
I also agree with you about the guns not killing people. He did and your right he is a Scumbag i have other words but not approprite for here. I also agree that what you did is not murder i have a lot of respect for what you have done. i have family memebers in the Army and i would like to think you for fighting for my freedom. and i also wanted to think you for your prayers. my deciding about not having a gun in the house was not cause of the gun i was because i dont know who i can trust. People you think you can you really cant. Thank you again Aimee
Aimee…….I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your son. RIP Korbyn!
Thank you Corset. It is a strugle everyday for me and my son. and to everyone else i’m not saying you all dont make good points but i want to know how many of you did a background check on your boyfriends/girlfriends or husbands/wifes i mean really because you all have never had to deal with this it is ok that you have not done one on your other half but because i was fool by a stupid creep i’m the evil one i dont get it and by the way he never treated her bad that i was aware of at the time when i was around that was his princess and she called him daddy he is a sick man and i hate him but all the hate i have does not bring my daughter back or help my son and most of all i hate and blame myself and where is that getting my son its not getting him anywhere so i just want you people to know that i do not think i did one thing rite in this situation so i’m sorry that you all think i’m a horribal person