Three people have been arrested, for the death of a Michigan Facebook celebrity, after he was shot while Live streaming on social media.
On Wednesday, the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office said in a release that on June 28 at 11 a.m. police received “multiple calls of shots fired with a man laying on the ground” on Nash Avenue in Ypsilanti.
Upon arrival, police found Terrill Smith, 46, unresponsive from multiple gun shot wounds. Medical workers rushed him to a nearby hospital where he died, deputies added.
“While Terrill streamed live from his Facebook page, the shooting was overheard/witnessed by many,” the release said. Before the video was taken down, it was “shared numerous times and countless people were exposed to the reality of gun violence here in our community.”
On July 1, three people were arrested for their alleged connection to the fatal shooting.
One Ypsilanti City man, 24, was taken into custody in Georgia and is “in the process” of being transferred to Washtenaw County on pending charges, officials said. His identity was not released.
The other two were women that were taken into custody.
Martita Bonner, 41, from Ypsilanti Township and Jermia Castion, 25, of Ypsilanti, have also been arraigned for conspiracy to commit homicide/open murder. They are both being held at the Washtenaw County Jail on a $1 million bond.
During the livestream, Smith, who was famous for his “brutally honest” Facebook live sessions titled “Rells Corner”, was showing love for his hometown.
“What makes y’all think because y’all moved that ya’ll better than Ypsi?” he said, per the outlet. “Y’all aren’t better than Ypsi. Ya’ll a product of Ypsi.”
He then went back and forth with a commenter who threatened him. Smith reportedly said in response, “Now y’all on Facebook, ‘I’m riding around with 60 shots.”
An individual went to Smith’s Ypsilanti Township home when he said, “OK, we’ve got action. We’ve got action.”
At the time, the live stream had thousands of viewers when police said that more than 30 shots were fired and Smith was hit. The actual shooting wasn’t in view; however, a bystander is heard calling police.
The video had 37,000 views before Facebook pulled it from its platform.
Smith’s mother, Genniece Smith, has since spoken out and said, “My son was a comedian. He disrespected people and they got mad. Words can’t kill you…a gun can.”
She added, “Two gunmen got out, shot at Terrill.”
Genniece went on to explain the dispute began after Terrill laughed at a video of someone in a fight.
“My son put up a video of her son getting knocked out,” she said. “A lot of people didn’t like Terrill, so what! People cannot kill people for talking. A family was mad at Terrill, they got on Facebook Live and said they were going to slap me and kill him.”
Continued Genniece, “God has the last say. But right now, the devil came and took my son.”
