Murder by Mistake: Fresno man will stand trial

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A grandfather was killed by a deadly shot from across his Fresno apartment complex and the one man who says he saw the trigger pulled calls it an accident that didn't have to happen.

"Honest to God truth: It was just a freak accident," said John Pulido. "I don't know why or what for."

Lemont Smith, 30, is charged with murder in the shooting, even though nobody's saying he did it on purpose.

Gerald Perry, 65, had fallen on tough times after surviving a couple diabetic comas, so he and his wife moved into his granddaughter's apartment in April. Three hours later, while sitting on the couch, he was shot and killed.

Lemont Smith may have tried to hide from our cameras in court Thursday, but he didn't hide his role in the Perry's death from police for long. Despite already having a felony and a strike on his record, he told detectives he was responsible for the deadly shot.

"While manipulating the gun, he said the firearm discharged," said Fresno police detective Richard Tacadena.

But investigators say the shooting was less of an accident than Smith wants to let on. Pulido is a friend watched the whole thing happen. He says Smith brought the gun over to his apartment and was showing it off right before he pulled the trigger.

"First he waved it, like, left, and then he waved it, like, right, and then when he got mad about me not knowing about the clip, that's when he stood up and aimed it towards the next person's patio and just shot it off," he said. "Immediately after the gun went off, I heard a lady yell. She said 'Oh my God. You shot my husband.'"

Prosecutors argue that just by recklessly handling the gun, and firing it in a direction where Perry could be hit, Smith committed murder, even though his friend says he's a good man who made a mistake.

"I don't know even why he even brung (sic) it," he said. "It just happened. It was just a freak accident. He wasn't trying to kill nobody or shoot nobody."

Judge Kent Hamlin ruled Thursday that there is enough evidence for Smith to stand trial for murder. If Smith is convicted, he'd get a life sentence, plus an extra 25 years to life sentence because he used a gun.