In Michigan, Jeffery Smerer admitted all charges in the shooting of three children at a Port Huron apartment.
PORT HURON, Mich. — A Michigan father who admitted shooting three of his children now faces sentencing on 10 felony convictions, including open murder, after entering guilty pleas with no agreement to reduce his punishment.
Jeffery Smerer, 45, is scheduled to be sentenced June 29 in St. Clair County Circuit Court. His May 26 plea covered the Sept. 11, 2025, shooting that killed his 17-year-old son, Kayleb Smerer, and wounded Bentley Smerer, then 13, and Kinzley Smerer, then 12. The case now turns on how Judge Michael West will impose life-eligible and mandatory firearm penalties.
The legal risk was spelled out before Smerer admitted guilt. Judge West warned him that a plea without a deal could mean he would spend the rest of his life in prison. Defense attorney David Kelley told the court that Smerer had discussed the decision with counsel and understood the legal effect. Prosecutors did not offer charge reductions. Smerer then admitted that he planned to shoot the children in the home and also planned to shoot himself after them.
The charges carry different forms of punishment. The open murder count stems from Kayleb’s death and can support a life sentence. The two assault with intent to commit murder counts are tied to the surviving children. The two first-degree child abuse counts reflect harm to children in Smerer’s care. The five felony firearm counts add punishment for using a gun during the crimes. Those firearm penalties can be served separately from the other sentences, making the structure of the June 29 sentence an important part of the final judgment.
Police and prosecutors built the case around statements Smerer gave after the shooting. Detective Grafton Sharp testified that Smerer told investigators he had been planning a murder-suicide for about a week. Sharp said Smerer described waking to an alarm around 6 a.m., taking a .380 handgun from a gun safe under his bed and walking to the bedroom of Bentley and Kinzley. He said “good morning” to the children, went into a bathroom and questioned himself in the mirror before returning to fire, according to Sharp.
Sharp said Bentley was under a blanket and using a cellphone when Smerer aimed toward the glow. Kinzley was getting up when Smerer fired toward her throat, the detective testified. Police said Smerer then went to the living room, where Kayleb was on a couch, and shot him in the head. All three children were taken to a hospital. Kayleb died, while Bentley and Kinzley survived with critical injuries. The children’s mother and an adult son later helped disarm Smerer after the handgun jammed during his attempt to shoot himself.
The shooting happened the same morning Smerer was due for sentencing in an unrelated indecent exposure case. Police said Smerer told investigators he was stressed about that court date. The earlier case involved exposing himself to a child connected to a daycare. Smerer was later sentenced to one year in jail and ordered to register as a sex offender. Judge Mona Armstrong, who handled that matter, said at sentencing that Smerer had shown no remorse in the exposure case. That separate sentence did not resolve the shooting case, which continued in circuit court.
The plea means there will be no trial testimony from surviving children, family members or first responders unless the court allows statements at sentencing. It also means prosecutors do not have to prove the timeline to a jury. Instead, the judge will consider Smerer’s admissions, the charges, the police record and any sentencing statements allowed under court rules. The St. Clair County Prosecutor’s Office has not publicly described any agreement limiting the sentence. The defense has not publicly identified a lesser punishment request that would avoid life in prison.
Beyond the courtroom, the case remains a family loss and a recovery fight. Kayleb’s death left relatives planning a funeral while Bentley and Kinzley faced treatment for severe wounds. Relatives said Bentley had major facial injuries. They said Kinzley had a bullet lodged near her spine and was paralyzed from the neck down. Neighbors and community members rallied around the family after the shootings at Glenview Gardens Apartments, a complex near Kraft Road and 24th Avenue in Port Huron.
Several facts are now settled by Smerer’s plea, but some details remain outside the public record. The court record shows his intent, the charges and the broad timeline of the attack. It does not fully answer why he chose his children as targets beyond his statement that he was close to Kayleb and Kinzley and that Kinzley was close to Bentley. It also does not fully describe the long-term medical outlook for the surviving children. Those questions are separate from the sentencing decision now before the court.
Smerer remains in custody ahead of the June 29 sentencing. The hearing will mark the first final punishment date in the shooting case and will determine how long the 10 felony convictions keep him in prison.
Author note: Last updated June 22, 2026.