Jury convicts homeless man in beating death

A jury convicted a homeless man Thursday of fatally beating another homeless man with a metal pole and junction box.

Jurors deliberated for about two hours before finding Trevor Nathan Wise guilty of firstdegree murder in the May 4, 2018, death of Randy Leon Smith. They recommended life in prison as punishment.

Wise, 35, confessed to the killing, telling detectives he kicked Smith in the face and then struck the him twice in the face with the busted pole, which had a junction box attached to the end.

A junction box is an enclosure that protects a connection of two or more wires carrying electrical current.

“His brain swelled to the point it caused his death,” Assistant District Attorney Adam Panter told jurors in closing arguments.

Wise told investigators the victim had been causing problems at a homeless camp and refused to leave, so the defendant and others physically removed Smith from the camp, police reported.

About an hour later, Wise said he walked up and kicked Smith in the face. The defendant left and returned with the metal pole and junction box, which separated from the pole during the assault, Panter said.

Kimberly Miller, an assistant public defender, argued Wise's confession was coerced by detectives. She asked jurors to disregard the defendant's statement because of his “belowaverage intelligence and understanding.”

“A lot of things he says don't make sense,” Miller said.

Panter said the defendant was caught “red-handed.”

“He confessed. He has the defendant's DNA all over him,” he said. “Nobody else does.”