People v. Smith

On April 6, 1988, defendant, Brian Smith, shot and killed Ronald Kucera, as defendant fled the scene of a home invasion and armed robbery in which he was one of four participants.

Kucera was the manager of an apartment building located at 5129 South Harper in Chicago. On the date of the incident, Tommy Gentry was in apartment 514 of the building, visiting with its occupants, Bruce Johnson and Larue Cooper. At 6:30 p.m., defendant and three cohorts gained entry to that fifth-floor apartment and, at gunpoint, robbed Gentry, Johnson and Cooper of both money and jewelry. Eventually, Cooper escaped…