William Deandre-Kashawn Smith’s lawyer said he will challenge the conviction in the killing of Shi’Ana Gittens.
JACKSON, Mich. — William Deandre-Kashawn Smith plans to appeal after a Jackson County judge sentenced him to life without parole for murdering Shi’Ana Gittens, the mother of his four children, in a 2024 Summit Township shooting.
The planned appeal follows a four-day trial that ended April 2 with guilty verdicts on first-degree murder and felony firearms charges. Smith, 36, continued to deny responsibility when he appeared for sentencing. Gittens, 31, was shot once in the head Jan. 22, 2024, inside a home on East McDevitt Avenue in Vandercook Lake. The life sentence was required after the first-degree murder conviction.
Defense attorney Andrew Kirkpatrick said the case should not have ended in conviction because the state lacked direct physical proof tying Smith to the shooting. He argued there were no eyewitnesses, no DNA on the shell casing and no admission from Smith in phone records, text messages or other communications. Kirkpatrick said no one could place Smith inside the room at the exact time Gittens was killed. Smith told the court, “I love her and I love my kids,” and said he felt set up.
Prosecutors answered that argument with a timeline built from digital records and surveillance. Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Kelsey Guernsey said jurors saw video showing Smith outside the home for 22 minutes before going inside. She told them the full length of the video mattered because it showed how long Smith had to think about what he was going to do. Prosecutors also cited cellphone and vehicle data that they said connected Smith to the scene and his movements after the shooting.
Authorities said deputies and medical workers were called to the home for an unresponsive woman and found Gittens with a gunshot wound to the head. Prosecutors said Smith entered the residence at night and fired near Gittens’ right ear. The bullet exited through her neck. Some of the couple’s children were sleeping close to her. Their youngest child had been born only weeks earlier, and Gittens was still healing from a cesarean section when she was killed.
The prosecution also used Smith’s alleged actions after the shooting to support its case. A 9-year-old boy found Gittens on the floor near her bed and called Smith while crying and begging him to come home, Guernsey told jurors. Smith did not respond with help, prosecutors said. The boy later contacted Smith’s mother, who came to the home and called 911. A 6-year-old child also found Gittens. Smith was later arrested about five miles northwest of the residence.
At sentencing, Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain spoke sharply to Smith about the facts found by the jury. McBain said Smith shot Gittens with a .28-caliber round while a daughter was in the bed with her and said he had executed her in the presence of two children. The judge told Smith that parole would not be part of his future because the sentence meant he would die in prison. McBain said the defense had 42 days to contest the verdict.
Gittens’ family used the hearing to describe the damage left behind. Her sister told Smith that he created “a living nightmare” for the children. Guernsey said later that the court file included many records, but the children’s discovery of their mother was the part that stayed with people connected to the case. She said relatives were now focused on raising the children with the love and energy Gittens would have wanted for them.
The case leaves several matters for the appellate stage. The defense is expected to test whether the circumstantial and digital evidence was enough to sustain the verdict. The prosecution’s position is that the video, phone records, vehicle data, child’s call and conduct after the shooting formed a complete timeline. No appellate ruling has been reported, and no new hearing date was listed in public reports after sentencing.
Smith remains under a life-without-parole sentence while the appeal window runs. The next milestone is the defense challenge in the Michigan Court of Appeals, where the conviction and trial record may be reviewed.
Author note: Last updated June 23, 2026.