TYLER, Texas — A Tyler man was sentenced to 50 years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to shooting another man to death during a Mother's Day 2019 altercation that police say was drug-related.
James Robert Smith III, 30, pleaded to murder in the 114th District Court in connection with the May 2019 death of Donnavan Reese, 27. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, court records show.
Following his plea, Smith received 50 years for the murder conviction and 20 years each for his pleas to the assault charges, according to online records. He will serve the prison sentences at the same time.
According to an arrest affidavit, on May 12, 2019, Smith pulled up to the vehicle Reese was in and fired numerous .40-caliber rounds into the car in the parking lot of a convenience store in the 11800 block of Texas Highway 64 West.
The affidavit said crime scene analysts found seven bullet holes in the passenger side of the car. Two other people were in the vehicle with Reese but they were not injured.
According to the Smith County Sheriff's Office, at the time of the shooting, Reese was working to change a flat tire and got back in the driver's seat of the vehicle.
The affidavit stated Reese and Smith had previous confrontations before the fatal shooting, including conflicts over drugs.
One of Reese's family member's told sheriff's office investigators that Reese robbed Smith of about three pounds of marijuana in 2017. A relative told police Reese had beaten Smith up in a Walmart parking lot four months before the shooting, the affidavit read.
He has been in the Smith County Jail since 2019 arrest.
