Freckle-faced killer Eric Smith freed after 28 years behind bars | 48 Hours

what do you think is going to happen [Music] so you find the defendant guilty of murder in the second degree yes is that unanimous yes eric smith was only 14 years old when he was given a sentence of nine years to life in prison smith had been convicted of murdering four-year-old derrick roby but before his arrest many residents in savona new york thought it might have been the work of an evil adult late in the afternoon the body of derek roby was found it was just a brutal brutal killing when police found derek they discovered that he had been lured into a wooded area not far from his home strangled and beaten with rocks this terrible thing was done i think everybody including myself that was an adult how could anybody do such a terrible terrible thing but smith had walked into the police command center four days after the murder offering to help police solve the crime smith said that he had seen derrick that day with a white t-shirt on holding a lunch bag investigators felt like smith knew something but didn't realize the killer was sitting right in front of them then two days after derrick roby's funeral smith confessed i was there i was there when my grandson confessed [Music] it was it's terrible [Music] investigators and community members tried to understand why a 13 year old boy would do such a thing they learned that smith had a history of being picked on as a young child his bright red hair and freckles made him a target for bullies i don't know why he did it i asked him why he did it his words almost verbatimore i don't know i just saw this kid this blind kid and i wanted to hurt him after he was convicted and sentenced smith was sent to brookwood juvenile detention center when eric smith was sentenced was there a sense now we can get on with our lives you hear the nine years to life and i think back then everybody was focusing on the life side of it for derek roby's parents smith's prison sentence did not give them the closure they had expected they were forced to deal with the harsh reality that their son's killer would be eligible for parole beginning in 2002. decide that well now he's done his time and we're going to let him go it scares the hell out of me in 2002 smith's parole was denied but every two years smith appeared in front of the parole board hoping to prove that he had changed and was no longer a danger to society the frequent hearings took a toll on derek's parents who were forced to relive the horrors of their son's killing must have felt like a weight hanging right over your head yes there's all of these really happy times that are supposed to happen throughout your life but there's always that in 2009 as smith approached his thirties he said he had changed in an interview with weny tv data is i'm not the same person there's not a day that goes by in some way shape or form that i'm like forced to remember what i did i'm automatically thinking i killed derek and the pain that i caused dale and daughter in 2010 the parole board turned him down again but as the years went by clinical forensic psychologist joni johnston says he seemed to be changing passion from him for other people so i'm seeing a little bit of hope from him years passed and the parole board didn't budge until october 2021 when his parole was granted but smith could not be released just yet he still needed to find approved housing rick smith who gained national attention almost three decades ago for killing a four-year-old has been set free on february 1st 2022 after spending 28 years behind bars eric smith walked out of prison why after so many years they decided to give him a chance and that's fine you know for him and his family smith has moved to queens new york and says he has plans for his future i want to you know get married raise a family you know hold on you know a job pursue the american dream smith says he wants to counsel kids who have been bullied just like he was question is will eric smith be a success story or somebody that we're pointing to and saying system blew it with that one that's that's exactly right i keep going back to my hope time will tell

Channel: CBS News

Views: 12,616,647

Keywords: CBS News, video, live streaming, live video

Id: eug1sbP5Y-g

Length: 5min 33sec (333 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 23 2022