By: Christopher J. Lyons
BRIDGEPORT POLICE UNSOLVED MURDER
THE MURDER OF ANTHONY SMITH
DATE: THURSDAY, MARCH 29TH, 2012
LOCATION: 1216 IRANISTAN AVENUE (REAR OF ADDRESS)
TIME: VICTIM DISCOVERED AT 2236 HOURS
DATE OF DEATH: MARCH 30TH, 2012 AT 0945 HOURS
CAUSE OF DEATH: GUNSHOT WOUND TO HEAD
MANNER OF DEATH: HOMICIDE
On the date of March 29th, 2012 Daniel Hamilton had pulled his car into the driveway of 1216 Iranistan Avenue to get a good vantage point to back up and park at his address across the street of 1213 Iranistan Avenue, it was something that he did on a regular basis. The time was approximately 2230 hours and Daniel was accompanied by a friend. As Daniel pulled into the driveway he observed a black male slumped against a shed in the back of 1216 Iranistan Ave. This male was bleeding heavily from his head and mouth. This victim’s shoes were off and his pants were unzipped and partially down. A denim jacket was over the victim’s upper torso as well. Daniel called Bridgeport Police to report what he had seen and waited for police to arrive to take his information.
When Police arrived on scene, the victim was quickly identified as Anthony Smith, from papers found in his wallet which was on his person. Police noted that the victim was still alive and making gurgling noises from his mouth, Police saw that the victim had been shot in the head. The denim jacket found on the victim appeared to have been held over his head as he was shot to muffle the gunshot noise.
Anthony Smith was taken to St. Vincent DePaul Hospital to be treated for his injuries. He survived for several hours but died on the date of March 30th, 2012 at 0945 hours. Bridgeport Police now had a homicide to solve.
Bridgeport Police secured the crime scene and took a lot of evidence from the scene and from Anthony as well. The denim jacket covering his body was taken because police believed that the jacket had been placed over his head to muffle the sound of a gunshot into his head. Black gloves were found on his person. They were work gloves and they were taken as evidence as well. Most of the evidence was examined by the State Lab w/o results except for the gloves. A DNA hit came back on the black gloves to a co-worker with the victim as the metals company. That person had a violent criminal history in several states and was on Parole in Connecticut but the employees could have used each others gloves while working.
The State of Connecticut Medical Examiner identified the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the left side of the head over his left ear.
On the night of the incident, police did an extensive canvass of the immediate neighborhood to try to find anyone with information to help them solve the crime. Police did not find any witnesses to the crime or anyone who heard the gunshots that killed the victim. As the investigation proceeded, police received little information about the crime and had to investigate the victim to try to find any helpful information.
Anthony Smith was a man trying to put his life together. He was on probation and wore an ankle bracelet for getting into trouble before his murder. He was working two jobs. One job was at a local hotel where he got good reviews and was described as a people person and a positive part of the staff. He also worked for a metals company as a sales person/representative.
Anthony was a convicted felon. Many of the people he worked with in his second job were also in the same situation. He had a steady girlfriend but had gotten a second woman pregnant and that put a lot of stress into his life.
There are several scenarios that could have led to Anthony Smith's murder. They include but are not limited to relationship problems, drug selling and drug use. What is known is that whoever killed Anthony took great steps to conceal the shooting by placing the folded denim jacket over his head to muffle the shot and no witnesses were developed to assist in the investigation.
The area of the murder is a highly traveled location with both pedestrian and vehicular activity at all times of the day and night. Anyone with information about the murder of Anthony Smith should contact Bridgeport Police to assist them in solving this brutal, public murder.
As previously mention, Anthony was taking steps to turn his life around he began attending college. While in school, he wrote a short paper about his past life.
" I am Anthony Smith. The earliest I can remember is when I was seven years old, it's the year I would never forget, 1987. At the time I was in third grade, when I got home from school my grandmother told me to sit down, then she went on to say 'where is your sister?' When my sister got home is when my grandmother mentioned to us that your mother was no longer with us. In other words, she had passed away September 27th, 1987.
I was eventually adopted by my grandmother. I became the last out of thirty children that she had adopted over the years, basically my upbringing was not the greatest. Now as I got older, I graduated from grammar school and went into high school. High school I did well up until my junior year, when I started smoking week and drinking. That led to me being kicked out of school. My only option was alternative high school where I could obtain my G.E.D, that never happened. Eventually things got a little more hectic. I started hanging out with the wrong group of kids, the normal eighteen and nineteen year old stupid crap. By the time I was twenty-one I already went to jail for stealing cars. That's when things got worse as the years went along, picking up a drug charge. I was given some probation time for it and completed.
Things turned around for the better, I met my son's mother. We stayed in a relationship for four years. Then, my old habits stared flaring back up. I started back selling drugs and ended up doing three and a half years in prison and got released in February 2007. Honestly, I didn't give myself a chance so I went right back to prison for another three and a half years, ten months later. I have been home ten months now. I'm working two jobs and attending my second semester at H.C.C. I ask myself why are all these things working out so well. That's because I'm giving myself a chance now and most importantly remaining positive and responsible.
Why did I decide to come to college? Honestly, I was in the prison when I received my G.E.D. It was the happiest day of my life. By obtaining my G.E.D it allowed so many doors to open up that would have never opened if I didn't discipline myself enough to do what was needed to do. That's what truly motivated me to come to college because it's so important to me to further my education. My plan is to obtain my degree in Human Services. I chose this career path because I want to help people and troubled kids to not make the same mistakes that I once made.
I have quite a few hobbies I do enjoy, and to just name a few, I love going out with my family and taking pictures, playing basketball, going to the gym for exercise, reading and spending all the time I can doing great things with my son. The person that motivates me so much today is my son because all I hear out of his mouth is school, school and more school. I want to show him school is the only option for staying away from negativity so he wont make the same mistakes I made. Overall I plan to take this college experience and all it has to offer and become the best student I know I can be for myself and my son."
