WATERBURY, Conn. — A Waterbury Superior Court jury found a 27-year-old man from the Bronx, N.Y. guilty of the murder of James David Smith in Waterbury on May 13, 2021, according to a release from the state’s Division of Criminal Justice.
Evidence introduced at trial revealed that Gerome Phillips fatally shot Smith, 25, outside of Smith’s new home on Chestnut Avenue in Waterbury. Phillips was found guilty on Thursday.
Prosecutors say Smith was moving into his new apartment when a man wearing a black surgical mask, a hoodie over his head, a vinyl glove on his left hand, and a gun covered by a shopping bag in his right hand snuck up on Smith from behind. The man then shot Smith in the head multiple times, killing him.
The shooter fled the scene and was later identified as Phillips, who was living in Waterbury at the time.
Phillips then fled to the Bronx and was arrested in June 2021.
“Extensive work by the Waterbury Police Department in recovering surveillance videos from local businesses and homes enabled the police to track the defendant back to his home, where his getaway car was located nearby,” State’s Attorney Maureen Platt said.
The act of murder was also caught on surveillance cameras in the housing complex that Smith was moving into, according to prosecutors. The vinyl glove worn by Phillips was found in the getaway car and tested positive for both gunshot residue and Phillips’ DNA.
Phillips will be sentenced on Jan. 16, 2025, in Waterbury Superior Court.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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