Insets, left to right: Jayden Burch (Lake City police) and Mariah Smith (Combs Funeral Home). Background: Matthew Rice during his trial for Mariah”s death in Lake City, Florida (WCJB).
The second of three Florida teens was convicted in the murder of a 12-year-old girl who was shot to death while sitting on her couch after the suspects fired more than 20 bullets into her home over a school beef with her brother.
Matthew Rice, now 18, was found guilty of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder in the death of Mariah Smith in Lake City. A jury found 17-year-old Jayden Burch guilty of the same charges in August. The third teen, Jatarious Rashad Fluellen, is still awaiting trial.
Lake City police responded shortly after 9 p.m. Aug. 24, 2023, to a home on NW Long Street to a report of a person shot. When they arrived they found Mariah suffering from a gunshot wound to her head. First responders pronounced her dead at the scene. Investigators found 25 shell casings and a laser sight outside the home, a probable cause arrest affidavit said.
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Over the ensuing days, weeks and months, detectives uncovered evidence the shooting originated from a fight between Mariah’s older brother and the suspects. Cops said Burch supplied the guns to the co-defendants and they walked to the home where they opened fire before running away.
Fluellen, who was 14 at the time, was the first suspect to be arrested. Burch, then 15, was taken into custody in October 2023. A grand jury indicted Rice in February 2024.
A key piece of evidence was an Instagram conversation involving Burch, according to a courtroom report from local ABC affiliate WCJB. He mentioned the shooting to someone which reportedly included a smiling emoji. When the person asked if Burch was aware of the shooting, he responded “I know, I did it.”
Cops also found Rice’s DNA on the laser sight. Jurors deliberated for less than an hour to convict him, per WCJB.
Burch is slated to be sentenced on Monday while Rice will hear his fate on Nov. 13.
After the shooting, Lake City officials renamed the street on which she killed Mariah Reginae Smith Forever 12 Memorial Street.
“This is history,” Mariah’s mother Todneisha Filer said at the dedication ceremony, according to local NBC affiliate WTLV. “This is the first time in history Lake City has ever done anything like this. No other family should have to go through what I’m going through and I’m praying that we can stop the gun violence.”
