Day 3 of Jamal Smith Murder Trial: Smith’s Girlfriend Called to Testify
Girlfriend of Highway 169 Murder Suspect Testifies
The girlfriend of Highway 169 murder suspect Jamal Smith, Rondelle Hardin, took the stand Wednesday.
Hardin testified that she and Smith talk on the phone every day, despite a court order that he is not supposed to have contact with her. Hardin testified that she didn’t recall renting the silver Chevy Suburban for Smith to drive because she was drunk, but she says she does have some memory of being at the rental counter.
There were some instances when Hardin contradicted her earlier testimony before a grand jury, including whether Smith was sitting in the driver’s seat.
Plymouth Police Detective Ryan Hazen also testified how police pulled a still image from a Facebook video that they say Smith posted the day of the fatal shooting on Highway 169 last summer. In the video, Smith is seen holding a gun in the same SUV he was driving the night of the shooting. Hazen says they were able to grab the serial number of the gun and trace it back to Springfield Armory, a gun manufacturer in Illinois.
The gun was a .45 caliber semiautomatic. A forensic scientist testified Tuesday that the bullet that killed Boughton was fired by a .45 caliber gun.
Hazen also identified the other two passengers who where in the car with Smith the night that Boughton was killed as Antoine Smith and Brandon Smothers. Both are not related, but are on the state’s witness list.
Jamal Smith is accused of fatally shooting 56-year-old Jay Boughton of Crystal in what prosecutors describe as an extreme act of road rage.
Jay Boughton was a coach for the Armstrong Cooper Youth Baseball Association.
Also See: Day 2 of Jamal Smith Murder Trial: Judge Orders Boughton Supporters Not to Wear Yellow
