Arrest Made in Shreveport Shooting of Child
Shreveport Police have located a man wanted in connection with a child being shot on March 20, 2021, just after noon. Shreveport Police responded to a shooting at the 4900 block of Monkhouse Drive at the Super 8 motel. Officers located a 5-year old child who was suffering from a single gunshot injury to the head. The child’s mother was grazed by the gunfire and sustained minor injuries. The child was immediately transported to Ochsner LSU Health with life-threatening injuries. The mother was transported to Willis Knighton North for her minor injury and later released.
Violent Crimes and Crime Scene investigators responded to the scene and began their investigation. Detectives interviewed witnesses, collected evidence and surveillance footage. Investigators were able to determine that 33 year-old Joseph Lee Smith and another adult male got in a heated argument while in the Super 8 parking lot. Joseph Smith produced a gun and fired a shot towards the male. The gunshot traveled into a nearby hotel room and struck both the mother and the child. Investigators procured an arrest warrant charging Joseph Lee Smith with one count of Second Degree Cruelty to a Juvenile. This is a no-bond warrant. The child remains in critical condition. If convicted, Lee faces a maximum of forty years in prison.
On Sunday, March 21, 2021, Shreveport Police received information that Joseph Lee Smith was in an apartment in Longview, TX. Longview Police Department officers were able to contact Smith and take him into custody. Smith was booked into the Gregg County Jail as a fugitive. He is pending extradition back to Shreveport.