A jury found a Hammond man guilty of voluntary manslaughter Monday in a slaying outside a Hammond smoke shop.
Marcus A. Ross, 29, of Hammond, was originally charged with murder in the April 1, 2022 shooting death of Zackery Smith, 27, of Chicago. Prosecutors also added a firearms enhancement, which would add more time to his sentence. The jury deliberated for about five hours.
Ross’ lawyers contend Smith pulled two guns on him first and he gunned Smith down in self-defense.
Prosecutors countered minutes passed between the first confrontation. Ross briefly left, then returned to the parking lot — shutting down his self-defense argument, they said.
Ross’ then-girlfriend Mychael Thomas, 28, of East Chicago, was also charged in connection with the case.
Her next hearing date is May 31.
After Smith pulled the guns, he backed off, got into the next vehicle over in the parking lot. The “threat” was “over” when Ross’ car pulled away, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Maureen Koonce said. That was “crucial”.
Smith should have lived to be charged in court for what he did, she said.
“This could have been prevented,” the prosecutor said of the shooting. There was no sudden heat, she argued.
Thomas didn’t testify, Koonce said.
Forensic evidence showed Ross fired nine times, hitting Smith five times, including two shots in the back.
While Ross’ gun wasn’t recovered, a ballistics expert ruled out Smith’s guns. One — a .22-caliber — couldn’t fire the bullet casings found at the scene.
The shooting was “retaliation,” Koonce said.
Ross just had two guns pointed at him and his girlfriend, defense lawyer Lakeisha Murdaugh said. When he came back and saw Smith, Ross thought he was still in danger and acted to protect himself, the lawyer argued.
Why does Smith need multiple guns, she asked. Why would you ever need to go to the store like that?
Smith also gave a false name to police officers after he was shot, Murdaugh said.
A witness said “they” were shooting, the lawyer said.
Prosecutors said Smith didn’t fire.
“We submit to you that’s not true,” Murdaugh told jurors.
There was no “plan,” Murdaugh argued. If there was, he and Thomas would have had a spot picked to meet afterwards.
Ross was about “self-preservation,” she said. He “lawyered up” after the shooting and lied to family on jail calls he knew were being recorded.
Prosecutors said the gap to the shooting was 5 1/2 minutes, while Murdaugh argued it was closer to three.
Is a few minutes a “reasonable cooling off period” after someone sticks two guns in your face?
Ross knew Smith would “snatch his life if given the opportunity,” Murdaugh argued.
This isn’t the “Wild West,” Koonce responded.
Koonce showed the full video from the guns Smith drew, to when Ross returned, ran up to him and opened fire.
“There is nothing ‘self-defense’ about what we saw,” she said.
Co-counsel Jennie Bell assisted Murdaugh.
Police responded at 1:47 p.m. April 1, 2022 to a shots fired call at the Oasis Smoke Shop, 5535 State Line Ave., where they found several bullet casings.
Smith fled from the parking lot and later flipped his car in the middle of State Line Road, charges allege. He was taken to Advocate Christ Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 2:36 p.m.
He was shot in the right leg, left knee and right upper chest, charges state. Police found two guns, one in Smith’s car and another near Advocate.
A witness told police Smith was selling her marijuana in the smoke shop parking lot when another man in a green fluorescent jacket — later identified as Ross — walked up and fired shots at him. Another woman — identified as Thomas — later drove up asking if the witness saw a man in a green jacket.
A security camera showed Smith was in the smoke shop parking lot when Thomas, driving, and Ross pulled up in an Acura. Smith went into the smoke shop, then returned to his car.
As he did, he walked near the Acura, pulled two guns out and appeared to trade words with Ross.
After Smith got back into his car, the other Acura left. Later, as Smith was still in the parking lot selling marijuana to the witness, Ross walked up and shot him from behind, charges allege.
Ross then ran toward the School City of Hammond administration building, documents state.
Ross threw paperwork and two company credit cards from his truck driving job into a nearby trash can, documents said. Those documents, which had his name, helped lead police to him, charges allege.
Police also found the green jacket and sneakers seen on camera at his apartment, the affidavit states. Two live bullets found in his garbage can outside matched bullets at the scene, documents state.
