A woman who shot a man to death after they drank together in a Pittsburgh apartment will serve at least 5 1/2 years in state prison.
Toddia Smiley, 28, of Pittsburgh pleaded guilty in December to voluntary manslaughter for shooting Damien Jackson, 29, of Homestead on Sept. 1, 2022.
She was sentenced Thursday by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Beth A. Lazzara to 5 1/2 to 11 years in prison plus nine years of probation.
Smiley also pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence.
Pittsburgh police said Smiley killed Jackson inside an apartment in the 2100 block of Park Hill Drive in the city’s East Hills neighborhood.
Smiley told police she had been drinking with Jackson and his sister that night at the apartment, but Smiley left when Jackson began arguing with her.
She said he allegedly told her he would “smoke” her, police said.
Smiley said Jackson spit on her and struck her in the face as she left.
Police said in their complaint that Jackson struck her again when Smiley returned to the apartment to retrieve her cell phone.
Smiley told investigators that she “thought she saw him reaching for something with his left hand,” so she pulled out her pistol and shot him.
Jackson’s sister, however, said that her brother did not have a weapon and that Smiley returned to the apartment with the gun in her hand, opened the front door and fired.
