Suspect in Fatal Highway 169 Shooter on Trial Starting Monday

(KNSI) — The suspect accused of shooting and killing a father in front of his teenage son last summer in an alleged road rage incident is on trial starting Monday.

Jamal Smith is charged with first-degree murder after prosecutors say Smith shot at Jay Boughton as the two men were traveling in separate vehicles on Highway 169 through Plymouth on July 6th, 2021.

The criminal complaint says the initial call was for a crash near 169 and Rockford Road. When they arrived, paramedics discovered Boughton had been shot in the head. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Boughton’s son told investigators there was a brief altercation between his father and another vehicle. He said Boughton gestured to the other driver after they began moving toward them. He said the other driver was next to their vehicle for about ten seconds, and then he heard a loud noise and saw the driver’s side window had shattered and noticed a small hole in it. He said their vehicle went off the road and crashed, and he noticed his father was bleeding, so he called 911.

Investigators say they tracked the suspect vehicle to an impound lot after an alert tow truck driver saw the media release with the vehicle description and called it in. Additional evidence and witness statements allegedly connected the 34-year-old Smith to the murder weapon and the suspect vehicle.

Smith was initially charged with second-degree murder before being indicted by a grand jury on first-degree murder charges. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

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