Sentence handed down for killer of Giovanni Smith
A Pontiac man has been ordered to spend the next 35 to 60 years in prison for killing a West Bloomfield man in 2019.
Gregory Boswell, 27, learned his fate Thursday afternoon at his sentencing hearing before Oakland County Circuit Judge Martha Anderson. Boswell, convicted following a jury trial last month for the Aug. 21, 2019 fatal shooting of Giovanni Smith, 20, was also found guilty of two counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm for shooting two others and firearms offenses. The assault convictions netted him two concurrent terms of 5 to 10 years in prison, and three felony firearms offenses added another two years. He also was ordered to pay restitution of $14,149.
The shooting happened outside a townhome in the 600 block of Lydia Lane in Pontiac after Boswell got into a physical altercation with a group of people. The fight involved some who had shown up out of concern for Boswell’s thengirlfriend, who was there to pick up some belongings as her relationship with him was ending, according to testimony presented at trial. After he was beaten, Boswell retreated into his townhome, then came out moments later, armed with a handgun. He shot into the group of people as they retreated, killing Smith and wounding two others. Based on evidence, Smith and the other two hit by gunfire had not been involved in the assaults.
At the sentencing hearing, Smith’s mother, Angela Huston, and his sister, Madison Smith, gave emotional victim impact statements describing the devastating effects of the murder.
“I’m not supposed to be here. A mother is not supposed to bury her child at the age of 20 years old,” Huston said to the court, crying. “I feel like I, too, died on Aug. 21, 2019. I can’t imagine living 10 to 20 years from now because my spirit is broken.”
Huston said it’s difficult to get through each day as she wrestles with her grief.
“This is an indescribable, visceral pain, a stunning pain,” she said.
Huston also said she keeps a lock of Giovanni’s hair which she received from the funeral director who cared for her son.
“A piece of his hair is all I got left,” she said, sobbing. “It makes me feel like he’s still here.”
‘A recurring nightmare’
Madison Smith broke down in tears several times while presenting her victim impact statement, speaking about the love she and her brother shared. “As long as I can remember, he was right there by my side…he was there no matter what. He showed up to his job as a big brother every single day,” she said.
Giovanni inspired her and always put her first, Smith said, and because of him she “never felt alone.”
“I long for that sense of comfort now, more than ever…I lost my best friend, my twin, my protector, my mentor — all in one night… I feel like I’m in a recurring nightmare, every single day,” she said.
Boswell offered an apology to the family, standing and turning toward them in court.
“I know you may all hate me,” he said, acknowledging that Giovanni Smith had “nothing to do” with the altercation that led to the shooting. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know it probably means nothing.”
In handing down the sentence, Anderson said Boswell could have stayed in his home after he was assaulted that day and contacted police, then “let the justice system work.”
But he didn’t.
“He randomly shot not once, twice, but six times, unfortunately striking Giovanni Smith mortally and wounding two others,” the judge said. “He wasn’t looking to shoot his assailants… these people were walking away. He chose to seek revenge.”
Smith, she said, was “a decent young man” who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Boswell took matters into his own hands, Anderson said, “and because of that he has ruined a number of lives. There’s nothing to compensate the family and loved ones of Giovanni Smith.”