LITTLE FALLS, Minn. — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up the appeal of a Minnesota man serving two life sentences for killing two teenage suspected burglars.
Attorneys for Byron Smith, of Little Falls said Monday that their petition to have the high court hear the case was denied following four conferences by justices.
His lawyers have argued through the appeal process that the courtroom was improperly closed to discuss admissibility of witnesses, depriving Smith of his right to a public trial.
Smith was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder in the Thanksgiving Day 2012 shootings of 18-year-old Haile Kifer and her 17-year-old cousin, Nick Brady.
Smith said he had been targeted in a series of break-ins, that he feared for his life, and fatally shot the two teens in self-defense. Prosecutors argued that Smith went too far in shooting the teens a total of nine times, and jurors agreed.
"I think often about what he could have been," said Kimberly Brady, Nick's mother after Smith was convicted in April of 2014. "And I see other young men with their dads or moms and it's really, really difficult and then I have to think that I will never have that chance again."
"She was a beautiful girl," said Laurie Skipper, Haile's aunt. "It was senseless what happened and we are going to forever miss her. And there's nothing we can do to get her back. It's a tragedy, a senseless tragedy."
Those who supported Smith criticized the verdict, saying it sent the wrong message.
"This just told every drug addict in the country, they can rob all the elderly people and break into their homes and get away with it," said John Lange, Smith's friend and neighbor.
