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H. FULLER CRIDLIN
Commonwealth’s Attorney

For immediate release: September 6, 2019

STATEMENT ON THE JASPER DEATHS

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY

My office has reviewed all the evidence collected by the Virginia State Police (“VSP”), and other assisting
agencies, in the investigation of a vehicle crash that occurred on March 10, 2019, in which the occupants of
the vehicle, Bailey Smith (“Smith”) and Emeri Connery (“Connery”), were found deceased with gunshot
injuries causing both deaths. We conclude—in agreement with VSP investigators, forensic scientists, and
medical examiners—that Connery’s death was a homicide caused by Smith, that Smith’s death was a
suicide, and that no other individuals or vehicles were involved in the shooting.

FACTS

Our conclusions are based on the following evidence:

• Smith (age 21) and Connery (age 26) were first cousins. Earlier in the afternoon on March 10, Smith
and Connery attended a wedding in Big Stone Gap, Virginia.

• Following the wedding, Smith and Connery traveled to Johnson City, Tennessee to meet up with
two of Smith’s friends, arriving around 8:00 p.m. While in Johnson City, Smith parked his vehicle
in a restricted area causing it to be towed. Shortly after realizing his vehicle had been towed, Smith
recovered the vehicle from the towing company.

• Smith and Connery left Johnson City at approximately 1:15 a.m. with Smith driving and Connery in
the front passenger seat. No other individuals were in Smith’s vehicle.

• Smith’s friends reported that they did not get in any type of altercation with any individuals while in
Johnson City, and that it was an otherwise normal evening.

• While in Johnson City, Smith, Connery, and Smith’s friends consumed alcohol at two bars. An
opened container of alcohol was also found in the vehicle.

• Blood samples collected from two separate areas of Smith’s body showed his blood alcohol content
(“BAC”) of .134 and .158, respectively. The legal limit is .08, meaning that Smith’s BAC was nearly
double the legal limit. Connery’s BAC was below the legal limit.

• Connery’s phone activity stops at approximately 1:46 a.m. shortly after she had searched for the
location of a McDonald’s. She does not use her phone after that time.

• Smith and Connery entered the drive-through at McDonald’s in Gray, Tennessee at approximately
1:54 a.m. The drive-through surveillance video shows that Smith and Connery are the only individuals
in the vehicle, with Smith driving and Connery in the front passenger seat.

• Smith had a conversation with a friend on FaceTime before and during the drive-through. The
friend reported that Smith seemed intoxicated during the conversation.
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H. FULLER CRIDLIN
Commonwealth’s Attorney

continued (page 2 of 4)

• Following the FaceTime call, Smith makes no other calls from his phone, but responds to several
text messages stating his location and stating that Connery is asleep. Many of the messages have
misspelled words and typos. Smith declined a phone call shortly before the crash.

• Shortly before 4:00 a.m. (time had moved forward at 2:00 a.m. due to Daylight Savings), Smith’s
vehicle crashes into a culvert near mile marker 28.3 on Highway 23 North in the Jasper section of
Lee County.

• The windows were in the upright position when the responding VSP trooper arrived on scene at 4:36
a.m. There was no damage to the outside of the vehicle other than the damage that occurred as a
result of the crash.

• After observing gunshot wounds, the responding Trooper stopped the process of removing the
bodies from the vehicle and contacted the VSP Bureau of Criminal Investigations. Special Agents
arrived shortly thereafter to obtain search warrants and process the vehicle for evidence.

• A forensic examination of the vehicle’s event data recorder (“EDR”) revealed that there was no
acceleration or intentional braking in the seconds before the crash. Analysis of physical evidence on
scene revealed that the driver took no evasive maneuvers to prevent the crash, indicating that driver,
Smith, was incapacitated before the crash.

• Three shots were fired from inside the vehicle. One bullet was recovered from Connery’s body.
One bullet was recovered from the drivers-side doorframe. This is the bullet that killed Smith. An
additional bullet was recovered in the back seat that traveled through the driver’s side seat and did
not strike anyone.

• There is no evidence that any gunshots were fired outside the vehicle or towards the vehicle from
outside of it.

• Smith’s firearm was found within the vehicle next to his midsection near the middle seat in a position
consistent with a suicide.

• Forensic examination of the bullets and the firearm conclusively established that each of the bullets
recovered were fired from Smith’s firearm that was recovered from the vehicle.

• A blood spatter analysis confirmed that the shooting occurred in the vehicle before the crash. This is
due to no significant visible indications of blood stains on either side of the airbags, but a great deal
of blood spatter on the windows directly behind the airbags. This indicates that the shots were fired
before the airbags deployed.

• There is no evidence of any struggle inside the vehicle before the gun discharged.

• Smith’s and Connery’s clothes were intact.

• The medical examiner determined that Connery was shot in the upper left cheek in a manner
consistent with a homicide (i.e., not self-inflicted), and concluded that Connery died as a result of
that gunshot wound.
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H. FULLER CRIDLIN
Commonwealth’s Attorney

continued (page 3 of 4)

• The medical examiner determined that Smith was shot in the right temple area of his head at
immediate range; that Smith’s gunshot wound was consistent with suicide; and that, in fact, Smith
died as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

• A resident who lives yards from the area of the crash stated to a VSP Trooper on the morning of the
incident that he was awakened by a noise that he perceived to be a tractor-trailer on the road. He did
not investigate the sound further and went back to sleep. There was no mention of gunshots during
this interview. The same resident reported to a local newspaper that he heard five shots following the
crash. His second statement is not corroborated by any actual evidence.

THE LAW

A homicide occurs when one human being causes the death of another and can be intentional or
unintentional.

There are varying degrees of an intentional shooting:

• First-degree murder – a willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing;

• Second-degree murder – a killing committed with malice but without premeditation;

• Voluntary manslaughter – an intentional killing without malice or premeditation, such as a

An intentional shooting of another can also be justified if committed in self-defense.

Unintentional shootings can be classified in the following way:

• Involuntary manslaughter – a shooting caused by the reckless handling of a firearm;

• Accidental – a shooting that occurred accidentally that is not the result of a reckless act.

A shooting resulting in the death of another can be unintentional and still qualify as murder if the death
occurs during the commission of any felonious act (See Va. Code § 18.2-33).

This felony-homicide doctrine elevates to murder an unintentional homicide committed during the
course of a felony by imputing malice to the killing. This statute encompasses all felonious acts not
expressly excluded and is not limited to those felonies from which death is a foreseeable consequence.

In Virginia, it is unlawful for any person to handle recklessly any firearm so as to endanger the life, limb,
or property of any person. Any person who handles a firearm in a manner so gross, wanton, and culpable
as to show a reckless disregard for human life and causes the serious bodily injury of another person
resulting in permanent and significant impairment is guilty of a felony. Therefore, if such an act also
results in a death, the felony-murder doctrine may apply.
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H. FULLER CRIDLIN
Commonwealth’s Attorney

continued (page 4 of 4)

ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION

The autopsies, ballistics report, event data recorder from the vehicle, blood spatter analysis, and physical
evidence from the scene collectively and definitively prove that all activity was confined to the vehicle;
that Smith and Connery were the only occupants of the vehicle; that Smith was highly intoxicated and
operating the motor vehicle; that Smith’s firearm discharged and killed Connery; and that Smith died as
a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound from his firearm before the vehicle crashed.

Forensic evidence can tell us how something happened. It cannot tell us why. We do not know, and will
likely never know, exactly why this incident occurred. This is true of many crimes.

Accordingly, we cannot reach a definitive conclusion as to whether the homicide was the result of an
intentional or reckless act by Smith. We do not believe the event was purely accidental because of
Smith’s level of intoxication. The act of handling a loaded firearm while operating a motor vehicle at
nearly double the legal limit of intoxication is, at the very least, a reckless act sufficient to support a
charge of involuntary manslaughter. Such an act could also rise to the level of gross, wanton, culpable,
and showing such a reckless disregard for human life, to support the elevated charge of felony-murder.

Our conclusions are based on our application of the law to the evidence. Ultimately, a jury of twelve Lee
County citizens would have made the final determination of guilt. But because he did not survive the
incident to be charged—and finding that no surviving individual committed any criminal act—we are
closing the case.