Teens admit roles in shootout near Covington elementary school that killed 14-year-old

Yahoo

27-02-2025

More than a year after 14-year-old Amani Smith was chased and gunned down in a mid-day shootout near Latonia Elementary School in Covington, four other teens have admitted their roles in the killing.
Donte Rice Jr., 18, pleaded guilty in Kenton County Circuit Judge Kathy Lape's courtroom on Wednesday to first-degree manslaughter.
Prosecutors say Rice fired the round that killed Smith during the January 2024 shootout on Decoursey Avenue.
Ja'Lontai Mason, 17, Averyon Howard, 16, and Jordan Bailey, 17, pleaded guilty alongside Rice to second-degree manslaughter. As part of the plea agreements, prosecutors are recommending Rice serve 10 years in prison and the other teens each serve eight years.
All of the teens were initially designated youthful offenders and charged in juvenile court but were indicted in adult court in July.
Prosecutors say the four teens waited at a bus stop for Smith's older brother, who had an ongoing dispute with members of the group after a fight at Holmes High School. They instead encountered Smith, who had been warned by his brother that the group was lying in wait.
Investigators obtained video footage that showed the group chased Smith and they cornered him in a church parking lot, prosecutors said. They added it was Smith who first opened fire wounding his teenage companion and Howard.
Rice, then 17, returned fire and fatally shot Smith, prosecutors said. The teen died after being taken by ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
According to prosecutors, Howard was also armed but did not fire any rounds. He was also treated for his injuries at the UC Medical Center.
'I have to hold myself responsible for what happened that day,' Howard said in court.
Assistant Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Casey Burns said Mason was the 'main aggressor' in the dispute that culminated in the deadly shootout.
In the days preceding the shooting, Mason made threats to Smith and his older brother, including saying in a FaceTime call that he was going to 'blow (Smith's) brains out,' Burns said.
Mason said in court that he was waiting at the bus stop to 'talk out the issue' with Smith's older brother – a version of events that prosecutors described as untrue. Mason ultimately admitted to chasing down the younger teen.
A former Holmes High School teacher sued the Covington Board of Education early last year saying she raised concerns about and reported a student's "threats and scary behaviors" to the high school's leadership yet no threat assessments were ever conducted.
As a result of those reports going unaddressed, according to the lawsuit, a child was smacked in the face and Smith was fatally shot − the result of a fight between the student and the slain teen's older brother. Court records show the lawsuit is ongoing in Kenton County.
Amber Smith, the teen's mom, previously told The Enquirer she'd been trying to get the Covington Independent School District to address threats directed at her older son.
The teens convicted in Smith's killing are scheduled to be sentenced on April 8. Excluding Rice, who is already an adult, the remaining teens will appear in court again around their 18th birthdays for a second sentencing hearing.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Teens plead guilty in Covington shootout that left 14-year-old dead