On Monday, Olivia Smith pleaded guilty in the stabbing death of 17-year-old step-cousin Abbey Hebert. Hebert was killed on Nov. 14, 2015.
You can see footage of the hearing above, via WSB-TV. Smith admitted to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter after being charged with felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, and possession of knife during the commission of a crime. Prosecutors wanted the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The judge gave it, crediting the defendant for already serving two-and-half-years.
Court records obtained in 2016 by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution showed that Smith and Hebert got breakfast that day from Chick-fil-A, and apparently got into an argument, ending with the defendant stabbing the victim with a kitchen knife. They were suspected of smoking marijuana before the incident. Some victim impact statements on Monday blamed the drug use for Smith’s behavior.
She was visibly distraught during the hearing. Cobb County Deputy Assistant District Attorney Jesse Evans told the the court that Smith told police they had smoked something before the stabbing, and “God told her to go after Abbey,” according to WSB-TV.
STATE: Olivia Smith had a “substance abuse psychotic” episode after smoking marijuana. Smith stabbed Abbey Hebert to death with a kitchen knife in Nov 2015. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/kwVxuhtqBi
— Chris Jose (@ChrisJoseWSB) May 14, 2018
“None of us will be the same,” the victim’s father Steve Hebert said in court. “It’s not a grief that we live with on Nov. 14. It’s a daily grief and we live with it every second of every day.”
Right now: Abbey’s father, Steve Hebert, providing victim impact statement. He just looked at Olivia Smith & described how she stabbed his daughter in the eye. “The loss of Abbey impacted many people.” @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/DCJsR06s5m
— Chris Jose (@ChrisJoseWSB) May 14, 2018
[Screengrab via WSB-TV]
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