VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – A jury found a Chesapeake man guilty Tuesday in the December 2021 killing of Annie May Smith at a Harris Teeter gas station in Virginia Beach. This comes as the second attempt at finding justice in the case after the first was halted and declared a mistrial earlier this year.
The jury took just an hour and 15 minutes to deliberate, finding Darrius White, 24, guilty on all counts at about 5:15 p.m. He had been charged with two counts of robbery causing death, three counts of use of a firearm and one count of aggravated murder.
“We are very pleased with he verdict,” said Brandon Emery, the assistant commonwealth’s attorney who prosecuted the case, outside the courthouse. “I am certain the family is. … This comes on the eve of the two year anniversary of the loss of Annie. … It’s definitely not going to bring Annie back.”
The prosecution took their time, over about one full day of testimony, in tracing the steps White and his brother took that day that led them to the Harris Teeter gas station where the incident took place.
The jury viewed surveillance video from the gas station, which showed the two brothers pulling up to a pump in a stolen car.
White’s brother, Michael, is seen exiting the vehicle and quickly approaching Steven Smith, who was pumping gas on the other side of the pump. Michael White points a handgun at the head of Steven Smith, who immediately hands over his wallet without resistance.
Michael White returned to the stolen vehicle, the video showed, but then quickly went back to the Smiths’ car, where he apparently saw that Annie Smith was holding a handgun herself.
In a police interrogation several days later, Darrius White told VBPD detectives that he shot Annie Smith after his brother got back in the car and said “she’s got a gun.”
The surveillance video showed Darrius White quickly exiting the driver’s seat of the car, running around the pump and ordering Steven Smith out of his car. He’s then seen looking into the interior of the Mustang before ducking inside momentarily. It was then that he fired three shots into Annie Smith’s neck and chest.
“Then she pointed it at me — a scared person will shoot,” he said of confronting Annie Smith.
Darrius White chose not testify in court, and his attorney, Kristin Paulding, disputed virtually none of the facts in the case.
After the Commonwealth rested, however, Paulding moved to strike the aggravated murder charge, arguing that her client’s actions did not reach the threshold of being willful, deliberate and premeditated.
The judge denied the motion. In closing arguments, she made the same case to the jury, reminding them that they could convict on second or first-degree murder instead.
The jury heard testimony from Steven Smith, who told the court about his 46-year-long marriage to Annie, the car they were driving (“Annie’s baby”) and described the last seconds of his wife’s life.
The court also heard from the man whose car was stolen by the White brothers.
Troy Harris testified that he’d left his car running while he ran inside his home to get something. When he returned, the car was nowhere to be found and he reported it missing.
Before the police could locate it, however, Harris found his 2000 Lexus ES driving down the road and started following it. When he confronted the two young men inside, he said they simply turned the car back over to him without a fight.
Unbeknownst to him, the two had just committed multiple crimes, including robbery and murder.
A sentencing date was set for Feb. 15. Michael White is set to be sentenced on Dec. 14.
Reactions to the verdict
Brandon Emery told 10 On Your Side the verdict doesn’t bring Annie Smith back, but it provides some closure for her family.
“We are very pleased with the verdict,” he said. “I am certain the family is. This comes on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the loss of Annie… it’s definitely not going to bring Annie back.”
The Commonwealth used White’s own words and video footage to convict him.
“This case had so much corroborating evidence,” Emery said. “All of it was equally important. The statement from Darrius White himself and the inconsistencies, … the video footage from numerous locations, the eyewitnesses.”
Darrius White’s defense attorney said she doesn’t feel aggravated murder, which is a higher charge than first-degree murder, fits what happened.
“I am disappointed in the verdict, specifically on the aggravated murder charge,” Pauling said. “I did not feel that charge was the right charge in this case. … I think the video shows there was some intent to steal and commit a robbery. I don’t think Michael or Darrius went there with any intention to hurt Annie that day. It seemed like it came up suddenly as a result of unexpected circumstances. I think aggravated murder is more designed for those who plan out crimes and are more violent and vial and include more victims.”
Emery feels the Commonwealth proved the elements of aggravated murder.
“One is a willful, deliberate and pre-meditated killing of another person. Another is if you kill a person in the commission of a felony such as robbery. If you do both of these things at the same time in the same incident, that is one form of aggravated murder,” he said.
Pauling said aggravated murder comes with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
She said what happened was a tragedy and two families are hurting.
“It’s also hard for Darrius’s family,” Pauling said. “They were not there that day. …To lose not only one son but two sons. Michael pled guilty. … It is very difficult for them right now. I think they understood that whatever the verdict was going to be, there was going to be time associated. The aggravated murder is harder because it involves a life without parole. They have to come to terms with that fact.”
