Smith initially told police that he did not know the men had guns until the shooting on Home Avenue occurred, and that he was surprised and scared by the incident, a prosecutor said.
Robert Smith is charged with murder in the shooting death of Saddiq Howlen. TRENTON — A city man facing a murder charge for a drive-by shooting told police he was just giving two men a ride home from a carnival when they fired at a group of people, a prosecutor said today.
Robert Smith, 19, told police that he had been at a carnival at the intersection of Route 129 and Cass Street on April 5 when there was gunfire and the men offered to pay him $10 to give them a ride home, Assistant Prosecutor Kimberly Lacken said at a bail hearing in Superior Court.
Smith initially told police that he did not know the men had guns until the shooting on Home Avenue occurred, and that he was surprised and scared by the incident, Lacken said.
Sidiq Howlen, 22, was found lying in the street in a pool of blood when police responded to the shooting at around 8:45 p.m.
“When they got to the scene they saw two different caliber shell casings,” Lacken said.
Howlen had just walked away from a group of people when he was shot, Lacken said. Someone in the group appears to have shot back at the car, she said.
Police collected surveillance video from homes and businesses in the area and identified a station wagon from which somebody shot from the rear passenger seat toward the sidewalk, Lacken said.
Police spotted the car, which is registered to Smith’s mother, outside their home on East State Street and brought Smith and his mother in for questioning, the prosecutor said.
The night of the shooting, Smith's mother told police she had loaned the car to her son, Lacken said.
“She got a phone call from her son that something bad had happened with her car,” Lacken said.
Smith told police a similar story, and before he was released agreed to help them find more information and identify the other men in the car, she said. But on further questioning parts of his story began to change, Lacken said.
Police learned that Smith left the state soon after, Lacken said. In addition, he has not been able to identify either man to police, she said. He eventually returned and was taken into custody at Trenton police headquarters on April 22.
Smith is charged as an accomplice to the murder for driving the vehicle used in the shooting. He is facing charges of murder and weapons offenses.
Judge Thomas Sumners cut Smith’s bail in half to $500,000, saying it is unclear exactly what the man’s involvement in the homicide may be.
Smith’s attorney Edward Belmont said the state does not have any evidence that his client had anything to do with the shooting.
“The state’s case is frankly a house of cards,” he said. “If the state proceeds with the charges a very vigorous defense would be put forth.”
Belmont said Smith may be guilty of nothing more than not wanting to talk to police.
“That doesn’t necessarily make him a criminal,” Belmont said.
No other arrests have been made in the case, police said.
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