LAUREL, Va. (AP) - A Virginia man has been convicted for the slaying of his 40-year-old stepson who died last year when he was shot multiple times, including on his face.
Randolph Eugene Smith, 62, was found guilty Thursday of first-degree murder following a two-day trial in Laurel, Virginia, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. He is expected to be sentenced in January.
Smith’s stepson, Neil Matthew Waters, died in October 2019 when he was shot four times at the family’s home in Henrico. Smith lived there with Waters, Waters’ mother, and Waters’ 7-year-old child.
The 62-year-old previously told investigators that a knife-wielding Waters was threatening him before he grabbed his shotgun and shot Waters. Smith’s attorney, John LaFratta, argued his client had acted in self-defense since Waters was found holding a knife, the newspaper reported.
Prosecutor Andrew Kolp, who called Waters’ death “an execution,” said the knife was planted on Waters after he was shot.
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