Trial opens in toddler's death

Attorneys in the trial of an Evergreen man accused of murdering his girlfriend's child presented conflicting scenarios Monday of how the gun that killed 19-month-old Korbyn Eva May Williams went off, and in opening statements asked members of a Flathead County jury to decide whether the shooting was accidental or intentional.

Deputy Flathead County Attorney Lori Adams asked jurors to hold 24-year-old Dwayne Scott Smail "accountable for his actions… and accountable for the killing of Korbyn Williams."

Prosecutors, who charged Smail with deliberate homicide in connection with the toddler's March 5, 2008 death, allege that physical evidence at the scene fails to support the claim that the shooting was an accident.

Forensic experts from the Montana state crime lab and a blood-spatter specialist are expected to testify today.

"The evidence in this case is going to come from that witness stand," said Adams, who exhorted jurors to use common sense while considering testimony.

According to court documents, Smail told investigators he had placed the 9 mm Ruger pistol on an exposed portion of his bed's box spring near the wall before going to sleep and awoke to find Korbyn tapping him on the shoulder, holding the handgun.

"Because she was holding the barrel of the gun, he grabbed it by the handle," said defense attorney Noel Larrivee during his opening statement.

Then a light shined through the window of the Montana Village apartment where Smail, Korbyn and Korbyn's mother, Aimee Marie Williams, lived.

"Whatever it was he was distracted momentarily as he took the gun, and it discharged," said Larrivee.

Smail, who is the only person listed in court documents as a witness for the defense, is expected to take the stand today or Wednesday.

"He will tell you that he shot Korbyn, and he will tell you that it was an accident," said Larrivee, who requested that jurors ask themselves ? throughout the duration of the trial ? why Smail would have shot and killed Korbyn intentionally.

"The answer is he didn't," said Larrivee. "It was an accident… What you will hear is what happened. Not a guess, not a hypothesis. What happened."

According to prosecutors, Smail and Korbyn drove Aimee Williams into Kalispell for her 5 p.m. shift at Taco John's on Main and Idaho streets. Smail had been cleaning the handgun ? which the couple kept for protection, usually in a gun safe next to the bed ? earlier in the day.

"Little did Aimee know that this would be the last time she would see her daughter, Korbyn, alive," Adams told the jury.

After dropping Williams off at work, Smail returned to the apartment where he had a few beers and cared for Korbyn. Detectives later found a children's book Smail had been reading to the toddler next to her body.

A friend, Kevin Mace, called Smail sometime around 8 p.m., according to testimony. Smail invited Mace over to the home and then decided to take a nap, defense attorneys said.

The shooting is believed to have occurred minutes later.

"I pulled up and Dwayne came running out, freaking out, and he looked real panicked, and said the baby had shot herself," Mace testified. "He kept repeating over and over, 'It's not my fault. It's not my fault.'"

Mace also said that Smail asked him to tell authorities he had witnessed the shooting and back his story that it was an accident. Mace declined.

"No, I'm not going to be a part of that," he recalled telling Smail.

On cross examination, Mace testified he had never seen Smail angry at Korbyn or discipline her.

"They had a great relationship. They got along. I never seen him get mad at her," Mace said. "She was just a happy-go-lucky baby."

Korbyn, who had been shot once in the head, died at the scene. No one else was in the apartment at the time of the shooting.

After Mace arrived, Smail jumped into his car and drove to Williams' workplace ? where he told her what happened.

"I didn't think it was real," said Williams, who testified she thought Smail was lying and that she expected to see Korbyn in the car. "I didn't think she seriously couldn't be there."

Williams, who initially believed Smail that the shooting was an accident, told the jury she later changed her mind.

"There's no way my 1-year-old daughter could hold a gun to her head and shoot herself," she said.

Williams also testified that Smail had never hurt Korbyn, and that she did not feel uncomfortable leaving her child with him.

"She called him 'Daddy,'" Williams said. "They played all the time. Most of the time she wanted him or me."

Jurors, who heard testimony Monday from Flathead County Sheriff's deputies who responded to the scene and detectives who investigated the case, listened to a recording of the 911 call placed from Taco John's.

An employee of the restaurant was the first person to call authorities, at 8:17 p.m., after Smail showed up with blood on his clothes.

"I didn't know what to do. I just looked up and she had the gun in her hands," a clearly distraught and sobbing Smail told dispatchers, who then asked if Korbyn was still breathing.

"No, she shot her head off," Smail replied.

Smail was taken into custody outside the restaurant and has been incarcerated in the Flathead County Detention Center pending trial.

If convicted, Smail could face up to 100 years or life in prison. He also could be incarcerated for an additional 10 years because a firearm was used in the commission of the alleged crime.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com