DATE: Wednesday, October 1, 1997            TAG: 9710010414

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   26 lines

NORFOLK MAN, 29, GETS LIFE PLUS 24 YEARS FOR MURDER

A judge Tuesday sentenced Stacy Allen Smith to life plus 24 years in prison for the August 1995 murder of Joe Watkins.

A jury convicted Smith, 29, of first-degree murder and robbery in July. Smith, of the 1400 block of W. 41st St., originally was indicted on capital murder and robbery charges in Watkins' death.

The jury found that Smith strangled and mutilated Watkins, 39, of the 100 block of Forrest Ave.

According to testimony at the trial, Watkins, Smith and another man frequently drove to Lafayette Boulevard and Verdun Avenue to buy drugs. Witnesses told the jury that Smith often bought drugs for Watkins in exchange for sex.

On the day of the murder, Smith went to Watkins' house, intending to collect money that Watkins owed him, prosecutors said.

A prison inmate who served time in the Norfolk City Jail with Smith testified that Smith confided that he had killed Watkins and mutilated his genitals to make an example of him. KEYWORDS: MURDER SENTENCE

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