A judge has denied Brittany J. Smith’s motion to dismiss charges for her involvement in the May 2009 shooting in Kirkland House of Cambridge resident Justin Cosby.
The former Harvard student pleaded not guilty to six counts of accessory to murder, possession of a firearm, and intimidating a witness. She appeared in court on March 18 for a motion to dismiss the charges, but Associate Justice Diane M. Kottmyer ruled today that the prosecution will continue with the case, according to the District Attorney’s Office and the Middlesex Superior Court Clerk’s Office.
Smith signed a non-prosecution agreement in July 2009, but prosecutors claim that she has lied to investigators, which violates the agreement they made in exchange for her cooperation against the three other defendants in the case.
Smith, a former resident of Lowell House, was two weeks away from graduating when her boyfriend Jabrai Jordan Copney, an aspiring songwriter from New York City, and two accomplices Jason F. Aquino and Blayn Jiggetts shot Cosby in Kirkland's J entryway after a failed drug rip. Cosby died from a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
Smith allegedly helped the three men escape to New York after the shooting by calling a cab and hiding the murder weapon under her blockmate's bed. She then lied to police about the incident, prosecutors allege.
Copney was found guilty of felony murder of the first degree and sentenced to life in prison without parole after his trial ended in April.
Jiggetts and Aquino pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received lesser sentences in exchange for their cooperation in the prosecution of Copney.
Smith, along with Chanequa N. Campbell—the other former Harvard student implicated in the case—were denied their Harvard diplomas in 2009. Campbell was never charged.
A trial date for Smith has been set for Oct. 17.
—Check TheCrimson.com for updates.
—Julie Zauzmer contributed to the reporting of this story.
—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.
Read more in News
Students Lobby for University Financial DisclosureRecommended Articles
-
Copney Awaits Jury's Verdict as Kirkland Shooting Trial EndsThe closing arguments in the Kirkland murder trial yesterday were characterized by sharply different versions of the same story as the defense blamed the shooting on another man, calling him a “homicidal maniac,” and the state responded by likening that claim to “fantasy.”
-
Jabrai Jordan Copney Gets Life in Prison for Shooting at Harvard's Kirkland House
-
Ex-Harvard Student Brittany Smith Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
-
Kirkland Shooting Victim's Mother Sues HarvardThe mother of a 21-year-old man who was fatally shot in a Harvard dormitory three years ago claims that Harvard’s negligence in allowing a drug dealer to live in Lowell for months led to the wrongful death of her son.
-
Harvard Seeks To Dismiss Cosby Civil SuitFacing a lawsuit faulting the University and Lowell House administrators for the death of a 21-year-old man on Harvard’s campus in 2009, Harvard said in a legal filing last week that it cannot be blamed for the death of a non-student drug dealer who was killed during a transaction in Kirkland House.
-
Attorneys Trade Arguments in Cosby Civil Suit HearingAs a judge heard arguments for the first time relating to B. Denise Cosby’s wrongful death lawsuit against Harvard for the 2009 murder of her son in Kirkland House, lawyers for Harvard said that the University cannot be held responsible for the drug deal gone wrong, and the suit should be dismissed.