Texas Police Caught in Enormous Lie About Their Murder of Unarmed Mother Yvette Smith
On February 16, 2014, Yvette Smith, a 47-year-old mother beloved by her family and community, was shot and killed on the spot by local police as she opened the front door of her home. A full 18 months later, as her case finally came before a jury, it’s disturbingly clear that the police lied, repeatedly, in an attempt to cover up their murder of Smith.
On the day of her murder, Smith called 911 for help because two men in her home were arguing over a financial dispute and she felt it was getting out of hand. She had nothing to do with the dispute and was an innocent bystander—a victim, even. When the police showed up, both men were already in the front yard and it appeared that the dispute was settled. This should’ve been case closed, but it wasn’t.
When Smith opened the front door of her home, she was shot twice with a high-powered .223 caliber rifle in less than two seconds by Officer Daniel Willis of Bastrop County, Texas, outside of Austin.
The lies and the coverup began immediately. The entire department was involved.
Police claim she was holding a firearm and they acted in self-defense. This is a lie. When Sheriff Terry Pickering issued the statement, he was fully and completely aware that Yvette Smith wasn’t armed. No weapon was found on or near her. He knew this. The officers on the scene knew this, but Sheriff Pickering issued that statement anyway. It sounded better.
Knowing that the evidence and scores of eyewitnesses saw that she was unarmed, police later retracted the statement, but have given absolutely no answers or held anyone responsible for the earlier lie—which was the primary reason given for shooting Smith in the first place.
Police also claimed that Smith ignored their commands. On September 17, in open court, we learned that this was also an elaborate lie told to justify police misconduct.
Officer Gaskamp literally admitted that he made the whole damn thing up. He also stated that he couldn’t remember telling this lie to the lead investigator, until they played him the recorded interview where he stated the lie over and over again.
It was discovered that the officer who shot and killed Smith was found incompetent by another police department. The evaluation said the police officer who killed Yvette Smith struggled with “common sense,” but was hired by a neighboring department anyway.
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