‘Random act of violence’ shooting nets life sentence
Jurors chose life in prison Friday for an Oklahoma City man after convicting him of a shooting prosecutors called “a random act of violence.”
Samuel Cosby, 27, was found guilty of assault and battery with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors alleged he shot Catrey Smith numerous times early Aug. 11, 2015, in northwest Oklahoma City. Smith, now 32, survived the shooting and testified during the trial.
“I’ve got like 16 holes on me,” Smith told the Oklahoma County jury.
The shooting occurred near NW 16 and Meridian Avenue. Smith testified he was walking home shortly before 4 a.m. along NW 16 when a red pickup pulled over beside him.
He said a man got out of the vehicle and began shooting him.
“I hit the ground and he continued shooting me,” he testified. The shooter then got back in his pickup and drove away, he said.
Smith attempted to make it home but collapsed in a yard, he testified. Police found him and he was taken to a hospital for surgery.
“Can you imagine a more extreme example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time?” Assistant District Attorney Jimmy Harmon asked the jurors during closing arguments Friday morning. Prosecutors said Cosby and the victim didn’t know each other.
The shooting occurred less than a mile from where Cosby was living at the time, according to prosecutors. Cosby drove a red pickup, police reported. Cosby’s father testified he saw his son leave that morning before the shooting in the red pickup.
Cosby’s father and stepmother turned Cosby in after becoming suspicious when they saw news reports about the shooting near their home. Jurors were shown video of the shooting recorded by a surveillance camera at a nearby thrift store. A red pickup can be seen stopping beside the victim, followed by someone exiting the vehicle with what appears to be a handgun.
There were 11 shell casings found at the scene, prosecutors said. Police linked Cosby’s gun to the shooting through ballistics evidence. Defense attorneys contended Cosby wasn’t the shooter. Cosby didn’t testify in his defense.
Prosecutors also played a jail phone call made by Cosby to a family friend in March 2016. At one point, the family friend asked Cosby what led him to shoot someone and he replied, “bad dreams.”
During the call, Cosby also said he planned to plead insanity in the shooting. Cosby’s attorneys didn’t present an insanity defense at trial.