A 35-year-old man will be sentenced for manslaughter in the 2021 death of 5-year old Mya Patel when a stray bullet struck her while she played in her motel room.
It happened in Shreveport, LA.
KSLA reports the jury heard that Joseph Lee Smith got into a confrontation with another man in the parking lot of a Super 8 Motel. Prosecutors said Smith hit the other man with his gun. It discharged and the bullet pierced the wall and struck Mya in the head and also striking her mother Snehal Patel.
Smith faces 40 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 27. He could also be sentenced to additional time of ten years for aggravated battery and 40 years for obstruction, the Shreveport Times reported.
The Patels owned and operated the hotel and also lived on its ground floor.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc. Follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our efforts to produce diverse content about the AAPI communities. We are supported in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate.
