Minnesota Supreme Court affirms Jamal Smith's conviction in killing of youth baseball coach Jay Boughton
PLYMOUTH, Minn. — The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed the conviction of a Chicago man who killed a father in a fit of road rage three years ago.
A jury found Jamal Smith guilty of murder, aiding and abetting murder and an illegal weapons charge in the summer 2021 killing of Jay Boughton.
Boughton was driving on Highway 169 in Plymouth with his 16-year-old son when he honked and gestured at another driver. Smith, who was in the other car, then fired at Boughton's vehicle, killing him and causing a crash.
Smith received a life sentence for his crimes.
In his appeal, Smith argued these points: bias on the district court's part; his attorneys were ineffective because they didn't request a change of venue; and that the court erred in denying his motions regarding the racial makeup of the grand and trial juries, as well as admitting evidence of previous "bad acts."
Smith also argued the prosecution "presented insufficient evidence to prove that he fired the shot that killed Boughton."
"Because Smith failed to carry his burden on each of the new trial claims and because the only reasonable inference supported by the circumstances proved—when viewed as a whole—is that Smith fired the fatal shot, we affirm the judgment of convictions," the court wrote in its ruling.
Jay Boughton's widow, Kristin, released a statement after the court released its decision:
"The news this morning was good news. But also emotional. We miss Jay everyday as his life was taken from me, Harrison and Amalie too soon in this senseless act of violence. But we celebrate his life by telling Jay Boughton stories and will continue to do that as his light shines on each one of us. We thank our family, friends and community for their tireless prayers and support of us these past 3 years. We thank our prosecution team of Dan, Erin, Sonita and our appellate lawyers for their efforts. We thank the Plymouth Police Department for their continued support of our family. We thank God for being just as we continue to stay in the light."
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the court responsible for affirming Jamal Smith's conviction as the Minnesota Court of Appeals, as did a news alert to our app subscribers. The error has since been corrected.
