A Michigan father was bound over for trial last week after gunning down his teen son and wounding two of the boy’s siblings.
Authorities revealed that Jeffrey Smerer, aged 44, harmed himself by slashing his wrist and overdosing on “multiple forms of medication” following the tragic shooting of his three children, Kayleb, Bentley, and Kinzley Smerer, who were aged 17, 13, and 12, respectively. This incident took place on September 11, as detailed during a preliminary court hearing, according to Law&Crime.
All three children were taken to the hospital, where Kayleb died. The other two were critically injured.
A police detective shared that Smerer confessed to planning the attack a week beforehand, intending to execute it on the day he was to face sentencing for an indecent exposure charge. Detective Grafton Sharp explained that Smerer felt “stressed due to the upcoming sentencing” and chose a murder-suicide as his course of action.
He expressed that he selected Kinzley and Kayleb as targets because of his closeness to them, noting that Kinzley shared a bond with Bentley. The intention was “to take Kinzley, Bentley, and Kayleb with him and then end his own life,” Detective Sharp reported.
According to Sharp’s testimony, Smerer detailed that he awoke at approximately 6 a.m., retrieved his .380 firearm from a gun safe, and entered Kinzley and Bentley’s room, greeting them with “good morning.” He then proceeded to the bathroom to mentally prepare himself for the killings by speaking to his reflection.
Smerer subsequently returned to the bedroom and began firing. Following that, he moved to the living room, where Kayleb was resting on a couch, and fatally shot him in the head.
Smerer mentioned that his firearm “jammed” when he attempted suicide, leading him to inflict a cut on his wrist. His spouse and their 19-year-old son responded to the commotion from the gunshots and managed to disarm him.
Family members told WXYZ that Bentley suffered facial fractures in the shooting and his sister Kinzley had a bullet lodged in her spine and is now paralyzed from the neck down. She also had reconstructive facial surgery.
The judge last week denied bond for Smerer and ordered him to have no contact with his surviving children.
