Death sentence on line for would-be rapper in triple killing

A former University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff student who once aspired to become a famous rapper now has his life on the line after his capital murder conviction in the shooting deaths of three people at a Dallas drug house.

The penalty phase opens Monday in the trial of Justin Pharez Smith, 24, in which prosecutors will present evidence in their bid for a death sentence.

Killed in the August 2014 shooting rampage were Tyteanna Brown, 21; Kimberly Montgomery, 36; and Demarcus Walton, 37.

He also shot a woman in the face, who played dead, and hit a man with his car while making his getaway. Both survived to testify against him.

Prosecutors said Smith was raised by his grandparents, regularly attended church and was involved in a mentorship program at Arkansas-Pine Bluff when his life took a profound change, The Dallas Morning News (http://bit.ly/2pSU8ee ) reported. He befriended Walton and regularly visited the drug house, where Walton supplied him with drugs to sell in Arkansas.

“He thought he’d come to Dallas on the dope game,” prosecutor Kobby Warren said, but that Smith “was a terrible drug dealer.”

Warren said Smith was still broke after trying to sell the drugs, but he knew there was plenty of cash at Walton’s house.

“He’s figured out what he really wants to be, and it ain’t a schoolboy,” said Edwin King, another prosecutor.

The weekend of the shooting, authorities said Smith asked his college mentor to buy him a bus ticket to Dallas and loan him $150. He texted another friend about getting a gun and asked how many shots he would need to kill someone.

After shooting each of the three victims multiple times, he texted his friend back and said, “Four.”