Donald Smith Jr.” “No one can take the place of my dad”

Jacksonville, FL — Among the things a jury will consider as they deliberate whether Donald Smith should be sentenced to death for the 2013 murder of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle, is what Smith himself faced growing up, and the impact he's had on his own son.

“I didn’t have that father figure around to lead me in the right ways, and definitely, there was some pain there, there was definitely some abandonment issues,” said Donald Smith Jr., who testified through video conference from Maine.

25-year-old Smith Jr., says he’s had his own struggle with drug addiction, which he blames in part on his father. In fact, he testified that he did illegal drugs with Smith, when he was as young as 16-years-old. Smith Jr. says when his father was out of jail or prison, they were not close.

“He was chasing that drug, which I know exactly what that’s like. It changes who you are, it changed what your priorities are, and it comes first,” he says.

From family ties, to Smith’s living situations, and other factors- mitigation specialist Dr. Brooke Butler walked the jury through research she assembled from interviews with the people involved and records, where possible. As part of that, she spent more than 100 hours with Smith himself.

The testimony started before Smith’s birth, with Butler saying his mother’s pregnancy was unplanned. His mother was 17 and biological father was 18, and his mother’s family did not approve of either the relationship- his father was from the “wrong side of the tracks”- or the appearance of an unwed pregnancy in the family. The couple did ultimately wed, but Butler says Smith’s mother’s parents forced them to divorce, so when Smith was born- without much quality prenatal care- his mother was single and living with her parents.

Butler says Smith’s mother wanted to give him up for adoption, because she couldn’t afford to raise him. The grandparents refused and offered to adopt him themselves, but Butler says Smith’s mother kept him instead, not wanting him to be raised by them. Still, the environment in the grandparent’s home was difficult.

“It was abusive, emotionally devoid of affection,” she says.

She says Smith didn’t actually know of his biological father until he was 9-years-old, and for a stretch of time believed his grandfather was his father. He wouldn’t meet his biological father until Smith was 49-years-old, and Butler says Smith was “devastated”, because his father was “apathetic” about the meeting.

GALLERY: Donald Smith through the years

When Smith’s mother next married, it created “instability” for Smith, because he was taken from the home he had spent his earliest years in, taken from his grandparents, and put with a new father. They also moved around a lot because of the nature of his step-father’s work.

“Always the new kid in school, and as a result, he was often bullied,” Butler said.

That man was wealthy, and even adopted Smith.

“Did provide much financially, but emotionally, it was an entirely different story,” Butler said.

Butler says there was physical and verbal abuse, some of which stemmed from the step-father being “jealous” of the bond Smith had with his mother. The step-father was obsessed with violent television, and would sometimes even march around like he was in the military. Butler says boundaries were blurred on mental illness as well- at one point his grandmother told Smith she wanted him to kill her if she ever lost her mind.

FULL COVERAGE: The trial of Donald Smith

Smith’s mother ultimately ended this marriage because of his treatment of her and of Smith. They moved to Jacksonville, and there she married a prominent local psychiatrist- which means Smith now had direct access to medication. Despite the change, Butler says Smith’s mother was always focused first and foremost on keeping her husbands happy and keeping her social standing high.

Butler says Smith reported being molested by two neighborhood boys and seeing them molest other girls, which he didn’t actually report to authorities or even his mother. Assistant State Attorney Mark Caliel noted during cross-examination that Butler’s account of this is based solely off what was told to her by Smith.

From there, his drug abuse took off, with Butler saying he used alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, PCP, LSD, peyote, and several other drugs, including his drug of choice, cocaine. Over time, the drugs had a “profound” impact on Smith.

“They called him Don, and then there was ‘Wheezy’, and there was a big difference between the person who was sober and the person who was on crack,” Butler said.

Butler says Smith’s mother was initially in denial about Smith’s drug use, and blamed adolescence and Smith “not accepting God in to his life”.

“She wanted him to pray his addiction away,” Butler said.

Smith prayed, but needed more treatment, and didn’t get it. In fact, Butler says his mother enabled him in many ways, by paying off his drug debts, driving him to drug deals, and letting dealers come in to her home for transactions.

It was clear drugs were a problem, not only through the prior testimony and arrest, but Butler says he spent a roughly $100,000 inheritance from his first stepfather in just weeks, all on crack.

“He stayed up for days on end without sleep, without eating, and just was on a crack binge for weeks and weeks and weeks and just blew it all.

Caliel questioned inconsistent statements by Smith’s mother regarding abuse Smith faced. In the immediate aftermath of Cherish’s murder, Caliel says Smith’s mother gave a sworn statement under oath that there had been no allegations of abuse. Butler says Smith’s mother was reluctant to come forward, because she feared giving any information that could be used against Smith. Caliel pointed out that another difference between the original statement by Smith’s mother and her conversations with Butler, is that in the interim the state had filed their notice of intent to seek the death penalty.

Smith has been arrested 28 times in Florida on 62 separate charges, and according to Butler, he lived with his mother almost exclusively when he was not committed. He was briefly married while he was in prison, and he had a son, but otherwise, Butler says Smith showed essentially none of the standard markers for development, including renting an apartment, buying furniture, or graduating high school. He did ultimately receive a GED.

Caliel questioned Butler about Smith's marriage as well, confirming that, by the time of the murder, they had been divorced and she was not even living in the state. Caliel highlighted statements by Smith the night he took Cherish, where he said his wife was on the way with a gift card, as an act of clear deception. 

Butler also testified to three attempted suicides by Smith, including one while in Department of Corrections custody and one while in civil commitment, dealing with a long term relationship with a man who was HIV positive. The other attempt- Smith running his car off the road- was not actually reported to anyone initially, although it’s been heavily cited in these proceedings as a possible source of brain trauma.

Medically, Smith is seeing some changes in his hearing and eyesight relating to age. He's been diagnosed with COPD, heart disease, endocarditis, and hepatitis B and C. He has also had several pulmonary embolisms, and because of his extensive use of crack cocaine, many teeth have been removed. Butler also mentioned that there has previously been testimony about his mental illness and brain damage.

There is a family history of mental illness, addiction, and violence in Smith’s family as well. Butler says he has relatives who suffer depression, mood swings, intellectual disability, and alcoholism. Smith’s paternal uncle also killed his father- Smith’s grandfather- in retaliation for abuse.

Smith Jr. says he’s been sober for four or five years, and the institutionalization of Smith has helped him stay on that path.

“I could have easily ended up in prison,” he said.

He told the jury that he and his father have now built a good relationship, where he speaks to him on the phone once or twice a week.

“No one can take the place of my dad,” he said.

Smith Jr. says his father offers good advice, and he looks forward to their conversations.

“Part of me, you know, it feels like who would I have been if he would have done all the things a father usually does with their kid? You know, playing catch, going fishing, and stuff. But, I still learned just as good a lesson- if not better- because he wasn’t around, and I never ever got to do any of those things with my real dad. Now I know exactly what I need to do as a father, so it taught me some great lessons,” he said.

During his time in jail and prison, Butler says records show that Smith has had an excellent disciplinary record. He has also not been a threat to either the guards or the inmates. An expert in prison security and classification, James Aiken, further testified that Smith would not be classified as an inmate requiring a very high security setting because of the nature of his crimes, but that he is not a risk to inmates or staff.

Closing arguments will take place Thursday morning, and then the jury will be instructed and begin deliberations. They must be unanimous if they impose a death sentence. WOKV and Action News Jax will have full coverage of the arguments and final decision.