Jury Finds Man Guilty Of Setting Fire That Killed Three

September 23, 2022 4:15 am

PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – The victims’ family members have been waiting five years for this moment — to hear that a jury found Martell Smith guilty of second-degree murder, and that he will spend the rest of his life in prison. Prosecutors showed pictures of Sandra Douglas, Shamira Staten, and Shamira’s 4-year-old daughter, Chyenne Manning, to the judge, right before she sentenced Smith to three consecutive life-in-prison sentences. When Smith first heard the guilty verdict, he acted stunned and put his head in his hands, and eventually told the judge his life was over. He poured gasoline throughout a house in Homewood back in 2017, and set it on fire, when the two women and little girl were still inside. They never made it out, and died in the fire.After court, the victims’ family members embraced each other and told our news partners at Channel 11 this is closure.