Buffalo man, 45, gets 18 years for strangulation of friend in 2007
Joseph N. Smith was ordered Thursday to spend the next 18 years in state prison for what a judge called his “senseless” beating and strangulation of a woman friend last year.
Jailed since his arrest last Sept. 11, Smith, 45, of Goulding Avenue, did not speak as State Supreme Court Justice John L. Michalski imposed the sentence on his plea deal with prosecutors.
The learning-disabled Buffalo man was described by attorney Joseph Agro as “illiterate and inarticulate” and sorry for the unintentional death of 38- year-old Charlotte Moppins.
Prosecutors Gary W. Hackbush and Maura K. Corbett said Smith pleaded guilty Aug. 6 to a reduced charge of first-degree manslaughter because of the unclear circumstances surrounding the beating and strangulation of the intoxicated Moppins.
Hackbush said homicide detectives Scott Malec, Brian Ross, Mary Evans and Reginald Minor worked to track down Smith three months after the killing.
Though Moppins lived in the 800 block of South Park Avenue, her corpse was found behind a house in the 900 block of Fillmore Avenue on June 2, 2007. An autopsy confirmed she died of asphyxiation and blunt-force trauma to her head, Hackbush and Corbett said.
After his arrest, Smith told detectives he and Moppins had been walking along Fillmore when they got into an argument and he fled after dumping her body in a backyard, according to police reports.
A tearful Tarica Moppins, 18, the oldest of the victim’s three children, and Lanette Moppins, the victim’s sister, both told the judge they wanted Smith to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Tarica Moppins said Smith deserved a life sentence because “life is how long I’m not going to be able to see [my mother].”
Agro told the judge he is sure Smith will “die in prison,” given his client’s age and history of drug and alcohol abuse. He stressed that his client is very remorseful for what he maintains was the unintentional death of his friend.
Agro noted that toxicology tests proved the victim died with marijuana, cocaine and alcohol in her system, possibly after partying with Smith.
The judge said he doubts anyone will ever “really know what happened” in the “sad and senseless” death of Moppins.
