Man convicted of fatal shooting, stabbing of police officer's son

The first suspect involved in the fatal shooting, the stabbing of a police officer's son, has been found guilty. The trial of a second suspect begins on June 18.

June 12, 2024, 12:01 p.m. EDT

FORT WASHINGTON, MD — One of two men charged in the October 2023 death of a Laurel man in a Fort Washington park has been found guilty of multiple charges. The man who was fatally shot and stabbed was the son of a Prince George's County police officer.

Prince George's County State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy announced Tuesday that a jury found Kenneth Smith, 54, guilty of first-degree murder for fatally shooting Desmond Thomas, 30, in front of the daughters of Smith, as well as guilty of first degree murder. -attempted murder for shooting and wounding a second person who was a federal law enforcement officer at Old Fort Hills Park in the 2300 block of Old Fort Road.

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Officials said Tuesday that Smith and a second suspect, Smith's stepson Lamont Scott, 18, confronted Thomas and the unnamed officer, believing Thomas and the officer had interacted with two 14-year-olds sitting in the park, who were Smith's children. However, Thomas and the officer were talking and preparing to play basketball before the officer went to work, investigators said.

However, officials said Smith and the other suspect ambushed Thomas and the officer, shooting Thomas twice and stabbing him. Then they went to Smith's house to destroy the evidence.

“When you're faced with a situation, your first instinct should be not only to accuse people, but also to be armed and then use those weapons against people you don't know,” Braveboy said . “If everyone says, 'Look, we don't know them,' then you should accept that as fact. I don't know why he decided to commit those acts that day. I don't know if we do. We'll know one day.”

“Instead of Kenneth Smith stopping and just asking his daughter what was going on and taking his daughters home, they killed two innocent men… He's 54 years old and he's facing two life sentences “added Prince George's County Assistant Prosecutor Bill Porter. . “I hope that one day we will learn that instead of acting with guns, we will drop them and start talking and handling things in a different way.”

Smith will be sentenced in September and Scott's trial will begin June 18.

“This is a painful and emotional case not only for the family, but also for law enforcement,” Braveboy added. “Mr. Thomas was the son of Prince George's County Police Officer Donnell Thomas, and it is unimaginable that his son would become a victim of the crime and violence he fights against every day. We are pleased to have received justice with this conviction against Kenneth Smith.