Gang member’s conviction upheld in shooting that left USC student paralyzed

The S.C. Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the attempted murder conviction of a Bloods gang member given a 40-year prison sentence for the Five Points shooting of a University of South Carolina freshman.

The USC student, Martha Childress, was struck by a bullet in the back on a crowded Five Points street after visiting the downtown nightspot area with friends, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.

Childress’ shooting focused attention on gangs in Columbia and Five Points, a downtown area saturated with bars that long has attracted USC students and rowdier elements at night.

The Bloods gang member, Micheal Juan “Flame” Smith of Columbia, now 25, was sentenced to 40 years in state prison by Circuit Court Judge Robert Hood after a 2015 trial before a Richland County jury. He is incarcerated at Lee Correctional Institution, a high-security facility.

In 2014, Smith also was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Joe Anderson for a federal gun violation stemming from the same crime. Smith’s federal sentence is to be served after his state sentence, meaning he will be about 70 years old if he gets out of prison.

At his state trial, Smith testified he didn’t intend to shoot Childress, but was trying to shoot someone else in what he said was self-defense and missed, striking the then-freshman.

However, 5th Circuit prosecutors belittled that claim, putting up witnesses and video that showed Smith was in no danger when he pulled out his stolen Glock 27 pistol and fired, hitting Childress.

Testimony at Smith’s trial also showed he was drunk and high on marijuana at the time he shot Childress. While jailed and awaiting trial, Smith was recorded on the jail phone laughing about Childress’ paralysis. He also was captured on tape bragging about how he was going to charm the jury into letting him go free.

It took the jury a little more than an hour to convict Smith of attempted murder, burglary and weapons violations.

Smith challenged his conviction, saying there was not evidence to justify it and prosecutors made improper statements, trying to inflame jurors against him.

In its decision, written by Judge John Geathers, a three-judge panel of the Appeals Court said the jury had more than enough evidence to convict Smith.

Although the prosecutor’s closing statements to the jury included improper arguments not based on evidence and calculated “to appeal to the jurors’ sense of fear,” the trial judge corrected that by instructing the jury to disregard them, Geathers also wrote.

Childress’s uncle, Jim Carpenter of Greenville, said Wednesday the family is “very pleased” Smith’s conviction was upheld.

“We thought the court did a very thorough job in analyzing the issues and explaining the basis for their decision,” Carpenter said.

Childress, who testified from her wheelchair at Smith’s trial, graduated from USC last year and is taking a “gap year” to plan her future, her uncle said. That may include working in the physical rehabilitation field.

This story was originally published August 15, 2018 at 1:31 PM.