Super Mom and son, gunned down in cold blood by 17 year old Xavier Pinckney

**Tazzzz** · December 23rd, 2008, 04:57 PM

Left: Xavier Pinckney , Right: Jacqueline Munoz

Jean Clair Smith and her son James Marshall Smith

A teenage neighborhood burglar (Xavier Pinckney) broke into a Dale City home last week, shot and killed a former schoolmate he unexpectedly found asleep on the couch and then killed the teen resident's mother when she got home and tried to call police. In the end, police officials said, the 17-year-old left the house with personal items worth less than $1,000.

The suspect's arrest, announced yesterday, calmed a neighborhood that was in disbelief and fear over the seemingly random slayings of Jean and James Smith, members of a family that was well known and active in the community. Police credited tips from the neighborhood and old-fashioned mug shots -- the juvenile had a history of burglaries in the area, they said -- for the quick arrest.

Hundreds of students, parents and friends huddled in the bitter cold outside C.D. Hylton Senior High School last night for a candlelight vigil to honor the family and express relief about the arrest.

The slayings occurred Friday afternoon, police said, when the suspect was surprised to find James M. Smith, 19, on the couch. Fearing Smith could identify him, the teenager shot him, police said. Smith's mother came home a short time later, saw her dead son -- still under his blanket -- and tried to call police before she was shot, too, police said.

Authorities said the juvenile was a neighborhood acquaintance of the Smith family and a junior at James Smith's old high school, where Jean Smith was still an active volunteer. "He probably killed both of them to protect his own identity," said one law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing. "I guess he thought he'd get away with it."

The slayings gripped the neighborhood and Hylton, where the alleged killer was enrolled along with Connor Smith and where Jean Smith was known as an enthusiastic and dedicated "SuperMom" who relished helping with school activities.

"A stay-at-home mom who volunteered at the school and a college kid home at Christmas break -- you don't see murders like that," Prince William Police Maj. Ray Colgan said. "This is a very decent, loving family."

James Smith and Sarah Smith, who was not home at the time of the slayings, were both in Dale City for the holidays from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va.

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Xavier Pinckney,17, who authorities said has several criminal convictions, is due in Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court on Jan. 12. A judge there could move the case to Circuit Court, where the teenager would be treated as an adult.

The suspect's girlfriend, Jacqueline Munoz, 22, of Woodbridge, was also arrested, police said. Munoz tried to give authorities a false alibi for her boyfriend and is charged with obstruction of justice and being an accessory to a felony after the fact, police said. She is due in court Feb. 13.

James Smith, home from James Madison University for the holidays, was believed to have been home alone, sleeping on the couch, when the burglar entered the house Friday. He was shot and killed.

His mother returned home from Hylton High School, where she volunteers with the Hylton choir, and found her son’s body, county police Maj. Ray Colgan said. she’d been at the school taking pictures as choir members sang Christmas carols in the halls. “She was discovered by the suspect and he shot and killed her,” Colgan said.

Connor Smith, 16, returned home from school Friday about 3 p.m. and found his brother’s body. Detectives worked 24 hours a day to solve the case, police 1st Sgt. Kim Chinn said. And it was neighbors who led them to the suspect. Officers knocked on doors Sunday afternoon seeking information. By midnight, police had arrested Pinckney.

Colgan said the teenager charged knew the family and had visited their home as a child, though he had not been there in a few years. Ebert would not say if the teen has a criminal record, but did say he “was known to law enforcement.”

Pinckney will be certified to stand trial as an adult during a court hearing on Jan. 12. Colgan said police believe he chose the house to burglarize because it looked vacant. There were no cars parked out front.

“This is an extremely tragic case. The victims were civic-minded people,” Colgan said.

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Great article about the story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2200963&s_pos=

http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/new...52/#fragment-2

**Dakota Valkyrie** · February 19th, 2009, 11:12 AM

A Prince William County judge ruled yesterday that a Dale City 17-year-old charged with killing a mother and son in their house during a botched burglary last year could be tried as an adult.

Judge Janice J. Wellington ruled there was probable cause for the charges against him. The case will be transferred to the county's Circuit Court.

Pinckney cannot face the death penalty because he is a juvenile.

Pinckney was a junior at C.D. Hylton Senior High School, where Jean C. Smith was an active and beloved volunteer, friends and family said. Jim Smith was home for the holidays from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., at the time he was killed.

After the slayings, Pinckney left the house with two guns, a laptop, ammunition and a blue bags. Officials said the items were worth less than $1,000.

Authorities said they think Pinckney killed the mother and son using one of two .22-caliber guns he stole -- family heirlooms that Jean Smith's husband, Rick, said hadn't been fired in at least a quarter-century.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...021803544.html

**Hellsbells** · February 20th, 2010, 11:21 AM

Teen sentenced to life for Va. murders of mother and son

A teenager who killed a mother and her son in their Dale City home during a botched burglary -- a chilling crime that the teen called a "mishap" Friday -- will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Xavier Pinckney, 18, was sentenced Friday to life without the possibility of parole for the December 2008 shootings of James M. Smith, 19, a college student who had just returned home for a holiday break, and Smith's mother, Jean, 39.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...v=rss_metro/va