SAN FRANCISCO—Trumillion Ballard and Anthony Pratt were convicted of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in a San Francisco Court on Thursday, April 5. The conviction stems from events that took place in July 2012 when the suspects shot Gary Smith near the Baldwin Hotel on Sixth Street.
Prosecutors argued that the victim got into an argument with Pratt’s girlfriend over a money transaction. The purchase of a dog was the transaction in contention. The initial dispute transpired the day before the shooting occurred.
On the night of the murder, Ballard and Pratt allegedly approached Smith as he stood outside the Baldwin hotel with his girlfriend. Video surveillance captured what happened when Ballard, pulled out a large pistol. At which point, he brandished the weapon and fired three shots at the victim, which struck Smith in the head. All three shots landed in close range. Smith was with his pregnant girlfriend at the time of the shooting.
According to a press release from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, after the shooting, both defendants fled in Pratt’s Pontiac Grand Prix that was parked close by. The car was registered to him. Both the defendants were arrested in Union City several blocks away from Pratt’s home.
“This was an extremely brazen assassination of a victim, who was in front of his pregnant girlfriend,” said District Attorney George Gascón. “These two defendants will spend the rest of their lives in prison and will be unable to victimize anyone else in San Francisco ever again. We thank the jury for their service.”
