A Shreveport man who shot and killed his estranged girlfriend’s new boyfriend in May 2018 was convicted Friday, September 17, 2021, in Caddo District Court.
A six-man, six-woman jury in District Judge Ramona Emanuel’s court found Rotrick Deon Ivory, 31, guilty of killing Michael Smith, 45, on May 8, 2018. Deliberating about 90 minutes, the jury unanimously found him guilty as charged of second-degree murder.
The jury determined that Ivory, armed with a handgun, forced his way into his former girlfriend’s apartment on Peach Street, pistol-whipped her and shot her male friend several times, with at least two rounds causing fatal wounds. He then fled, evading arrest for five months before being apprehended in Longview, Texas.
When Ivory returns to face Judge Emanuel October 25, 2021, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.
Assistant District Attorneys Nancy Berger-Schneider and Sam S. Crichton prosecuted for the state. Ivory was defended by Katherine Evans, Casey Simpson and Royal Alexander.