Jamie D. Smith Jr., 21, was sentenced immediately after he pleaded no contest to third-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery in fatal shooting of friend Shannon Crosby, 30, in January 2022.
- Two years ago, a shootout broke out at a short-term rental house on McClelland Avenue in Erie
- Police said the gunfire erupted as a group from Erie tried to rob a group from Arizona who had traveled to Erie to deal fentanyl
- Minutes before testimony was to start in his trial, one of the defendants, Jamie D. Smith Jr., entered plea and was then sentenced to up to 60 years in state prison
Two Erie men, one 19 and the other 30, were friends. They were also partners in crime.
The relationship turned tragic for both.
The 30-year-old, Shannon Crosby, was killed when he and his friend Jamie D. Smith Jr., then 19, conspired to rob a group from Arizona of fentanyl at a short-term rental house on McClelland Avenue in Erie in January 2022.
The heist led to a shootout.
Crosby was killed and an Arizona man was wounded.