42-Year-Old Man Gets Two Life Sentences for Back-to-Back Murders

By Andrew Michaels - January 26, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Two days after pleading guilty, 42-year-old Gerald Smith received two concurrent life sentences on Jan. 25 for the murder of Marvis Pollock and Brittaney Hayes-Smith in 2021.

The first killing occurred on May 2, 2021, when Baltimore Police were called to the 2600 block of West Fairmount Avenue just before 6:30 p.m. following reports of a shooting. Pollock was found lying in the street with gunshot wounds to his face and upper body, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office reported.

Police found several 9mm casings at the scene. The defendant’s cell phone records were also traced back to the area of the shooting at the time of the incident, in addition to video surveillance footage that was recovered from a nearby convenience store.

The next day, police were alerted of another shooting on the 2800 block of Clifton Park Terrace, where a man found his daughter lying unresponsive on her living room floor. The woman, later identified as Hayes-Smith, was pronounced dead at 12:04 p.m.

During their search of the residence, police found more 9mm casings, which matched those found at West Fairmount Avenue.

Investigation revealed that the defendant was Hayes-Smith’s husband and that she had recently moved out of the residence in March. One evening, Smith allegedly followed Hayes-Smith to a sports bar and then her friend’s home, where she eventually left with the defendant. The state’s attorney’s office reported that witnesses later told police that they saw the couple on their front porch.

The defendant was represented by defense attorney Karyn Meriwether.