William Deandre-Kashawn Smith maintained his innocence after a jury convicted him in the 2024 shooting death of Shi’Ana Gittens.

JACKSON, Mich. — A Jackson County judge sentenced William Deandre-Kashawn Smith to life in prison without parole after a jury found he murdered Shi’Ana Gittens, the mother of his four children, inside a Summit Township home in January 2024.

The sentence closed the trial-court stage of a case that prosecutors said began with a planned bedroom shooting and ended with two young children finding their mother. Smith, 36, was convicted April 2 after a four-day trial on first-degree murder and felony firearms charges. Gittens, 31, had given birth weeks earlier and was still recovering from a cesarean section when she was killed.

Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain imposed the mandatory punishment during a Thursday hearing and spoke directly to Smith before ordering the life term. McBain said Smith shot Gittens in the head while a daughter was in the bed with her and two children were present. The judge said Smith would not face a parole board because the conviction required life without release. Smith stood before the court and denied killing Gittens. “I love her and I love my kids,” Smith said. “I feel set up.”

The shooting happened Jan. 22, 2024, at a home on East McDevitt Avenue in Vandercook Lake, a community in Summit Township near Jackson. Deputies and medical workers were called for an unresponsive woman and found Gittens with a gunshot wound to the head. Prosecutors said Smith entered the home at night and fired once near her right ear. The bullet exited through her neck. A 9-year-old child later found Gittens on the floor near the bed and called Smith, crying and asking him to come home. Prosecutors said Smith did not help.

Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Kelsey Guernsey told jurors the child’s call was part of what showed Smith’s actions after the shooting. She said the boy was terrified and sobbing while asking his father for help. The child later reached Smith’s mother, who went to the home and called 911. A 6-year-old child also found Gittens after the shooting. Prosecutors said the couple’s four children were in the home, with some asleep near their mother when the gunfire occurred.

The prosecution built its case around digital evidence rather than a confession or eyewitness testimony from inside the room. Jurors saw surveillance video showing Smith outside the residence before the killing. Prosecutors said the video lasted 22 minutes from the time Smith arrived until he went inside. Cellphone and vehicle data also placed Smith in the timeline, Guernsey said. Investigators later arrested him about five miles northwest of the home. The weapon was described in court as a .28-caliber round, and a shell casing was found.

Defense attorney Andrew Kirkpatrick argued at trial that the state had not shown enough physical proof to convict Smith. He said no eyewitness saw Smith fire the shot, no DNA was found on the shell casing and no message or statement showed Smith admitted involvement. Kirkpatrick said no one could place Smith inside the house at the exact time of the shooting. The jury rejected that argument after hearing four days of testimony and reviewing the video, phone and vehicle records.

Gittens’ family addressed the court during the sentencing hearing and described the harm left for her children. Her sister told Smith he had created “a living nightmare” for her niece and nephew. Guernsey also focused on the children when she spoke after sentencing, saying the case had a large emotional weight because Gittens was found by her young children. She said family members are now committed to raising the children in the way Gittens would have wanted.

The life sentence resolves Smith’s punishment in Jackson County Circuit Court, but the case may continue on appeal. Kirkpatrick said Smith intends to challenge the conviction in the Michigan Court of Appeals. McBain said the defense had 42 days to contest the verdict.

Author note: Last updated June 23, 2026.