Jeffery Smerer pleaded guilty without a deal after a September attack that killed his teenage son.

PORT HURON, Mich. — A St. Clair County father admitted in court that he shot three of his children at their Port Huron apartment, killing his 17-year-old son and critically wounding two younger children before a separate court sentencing.

Jeffery Smerer, 45, pleaded guilty May 26 to 10 felony counts in the Sept. 11, 2025, shooting at Glenview Gardens Apartments. The plea ended the main fact-finding phase of a case that police said began with a planned murder-suicide attempt and left Kayleb Smerer dead. Smerer now faces five possible life sentences when he returns to court June 29.

The plea hearing turned on short answers to direct questions. Senior Assistant Public Defense Attorney David Kelley asked whether Smerer meant to shoot the children in the home. “Yes,” Smerer said. Kelley then asked whether Smerer also intended to shoot himself. Smerer paused, became emotional and answered yes. Circuit Court Judge Michael West told Smerer that pleading guilty without an agreement with prosecutors meant he could spend the rest of his life in prison. Smerer said he understood. Prosecutors did not reduce any of the charges as part of the plea.

The admitted attack happened on a Thursday morning when the children were waking for school. Police said Smerer got up around 6 a.m., retrieved a .380 handgun from a gun safe under his bed and went to the bedroom shared by Bentley Smerer, then 13, and Kinzley Smerer, then 12. Detective Grafton Sharp later testified that Smerer told investigators he said “good morning” to the children before walking into a family bathroom. Sharp said Smerer told police he looked in the mirror and questioned whether he was really going to carry out the attack.

Police said Smerer returned to the bedroom and opened fire. Sharp testified that Bentley was under a blanket and using a cellphone when Smerer aimed toward the glow. Sharp said Kinzley was getting up when Smerer fired toward her throat. Investigators said Smerer then moved to the living room, where Kayleb was on a couch, and shot him in the head. All three children were taken to a hospital. Kayleb died from his injuries. Bentley and Kinzley survived with serious wounds that relatives later described as life-changing.

The case was tied from the start to another court matter. Police said Smerer told investigators he was stressed about a sentencing scheduled that same morning for an indecent exposure conviction. That case involved allegations that he exposed himself to a child connected to a daycare. He later received a one-year jail sentence in that matter and was ordered to register as a sex offender. Police said Smerer reported planning the shootings for about a week before carrying them out. The children were not accused of any wrongdoing, and investigators have not described any threat from them before the shooting.

Smerer’s guilty pleas covered one count of open murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder, two counts of first-degree child abuse and five counts of felony firearm. Under Michigan law, felony firearm counts carry mandatory prison time that is served apart from the underlying offense. The open murder count alone can bring life in prison without parole if the court treats the killing as first-degree murder. Prosecutors said the lack of a plea deal means each count remains in place for sentencing.

Family members and neighbors were pulled into the violence before police arrived. Authorities said Smerer tried to turn the gun on himself, but the handgun jammed. Police said he then cut his wrist and took medication kept in the master bedroom. His wife and an adult son intervened after hearing the gunfire and helped disarm him. First responders found the children wounded inside the apartment complex near Kraft Road and 24th Avenue. Smerer was taken into custody after the attack and later held without bond while the case moved through court.

Kayleb’s death left a public record of a teenager remembered by relatives as part of a family now facing grief and medical recovery at the same time. Reports from relatives said Bentley suffered severe facial injuries. Kinzley’s injuries included a spinal wound that relatives said left her paralyzed from the neck down. The family sought help for funeral costs and medical care as the criminal case continued. Court records and hearing testimony did not resolve every personal question about why Smerer chose that morning, beyond his statements about stress, planning and intent.

The next hearing is expected to shift from admissions to punishment. Judge West is scheduled to sentence Smerer on June 29 in St. Clair County Circuit Court. The hearing will determine how the murder, assault, child abuse and firearm penalties are imposed and whether the sentences run together or one after another. Smerer remains in custody.

Author note: Last updated June 22, 2026.