A Grand Crossing woman laid in wait for a 31-year-old woman to return to her Englewood apartment building so she could gun her down, Cook County prosecutors said Tuesday.
After Tatianna Smith shot Lakia Armstrong multiple times from behind in the building’s gangway on April 29, 2019, she stood over Armstrong and fired two final shots into her head, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.
Smith, who has been sought for nearly a year on a warrant charging her with the murder, was taken into custody on the Southwest Side over the weekend.
Even though she was warned not to speak out in court by Judge David Navarro and her assistant public defender Tuesday, Smith, 21, said she felt there was something the judge needed to know.
“I’m talking to the honorable judge. I want him to hear something I have to say,” she said. “I’m not a threat to the world. I’m not a threat to society. I’m not this bad person the state’s attorney trying to make me.
“I really feel like you should have gave me some type of bond.”
Smith’s assistant public defender had also asked for bond, saying Smith could post up to $25,000, and cited the coronavirus pandemic and a possible increase in the jail population following the unrest amid the protests of George Floyd’s killing.
Navarro was not swayed.
“I’ve made my order. No bail,” the judge said at the end of the hearing that was live-streamed on YouTube.
On the night of the murder, surveillance cameras captured Smith entering a gate into the courtyard of Armstrong’s building, in the 500 block of West Marquette Road, and hiding as she waited for Armstrong, Murphy said.
When Armstrong arrived, Smith followed her into the gangway before firing, Murphy said.
Smith was recorded wearing a T-shirt that memorialized a dead friend, distinctive pants and a hat. Social media photos showed Smith wearing the same outfit, Murphy said.
Cellphone records also placed Smith a block away from the shooting a minute after the shots were fired, Murphy said.
A witness who was inside the building heard the shots, looked out the window and saw Armstrong on the ground. The witness, who had a previous relationship with Smith, later identified her as the person seen on surveillance footage, Murphy said.
Prosecutors did not provide a motive for the shooting in court.
Smith was taken into custody Sunday after she was found hiding in a garage in the 5800 block of South Mason Avenue. She ran from a car where officers saw a person waving a gun and the driver refused to stop after committing multiple traffic offenses, Murphy said.
Smith, who also goes by the name Precious Smith, was charged with a misdemeanor count of reckless conduct in the traffic-related case.
Smith’s assistant public defender said she had been working for her grandfather as a handyman’s assistant while supporting the 2-year-old child of a dead cousin.
Smith is expected back in court on June 22.
