Jury convicts Hwy. 169 road-rage shooter of first- and second-degree murder

A Hennepin County jury on Thursday convicted a Chicago man of first-degree murder in the Hwy. 169 road-rage shooting of a father driving his son home from a baseball game last summer.

The family of 56-year-old Jay Boughton said they weren't celebrating the guilty verdicts that will result in a life sentence for Jamal Lindsey Smith, but they praised the prosecution, investigators and good Samaritans for helping them find the truth they've been searching for since the night of July 6, 2021, brought so much darkness to their lives.

"And if I didn't stay in the light, I'd go to anger, and what does that leave for my children? What does that leave for [Boughton's son] Harrison, who witnessed this?" Boughton's wife, Kristin, said shortly after the verdicts were read. "This has always been about staying in the light."

Smith, 34, who was arrested in Illinois two months after the shooting that sent shockwaves across the metro area, was found guilty on all three charges: first- and second-degree murder while committing a drive-by shooting and unlawful possession of a firearm. A first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

"I never wavered from the Plymouth police finding [Smith]," Kristin Boughton said. "I always knew in my heart they would. One of the police officers told me that I was their biggest, No. 1 person ... cheering them on."

She knelt in prayer outside the courtroom before the jury was called in for the judge to read their verdicts. Afterward, she called Harrison and her daughter, Amalie.

"Hey honey, we got him. He's guilty on all three counts," she told Harrison. "We got him."

Judge Nicole Engisch asked the family to give no audible reaction. Some of the dozen family members pumped their hands when hearing guilty on first-degree murder. "Yes," one said quietly.

Smith appeared emotionless, but he began to wipe at his face after the third guilty verdict was read.

On Wednesday, about halfway through their deliberations, the jurors suggested they were deadlocked and asked what would happen if they couldn't reach consensus on the first-degree murder charge while noting they had agreement on the other two charges.

Engisch encouraged the jurors to put in more time, given that testimony lasted six days. More than 30 witnesses took the stand, and the jury was presented with more than 100 pieces of evidence.

On the first day of testimony, July 11, Boughton's wife and son were the first to take the stand on what would've been his 58th birthday.

Harrison Boughton, 16, described the chaotic scene after his dad's truck veered into the ditch, crashed through a fence and came to a stop in the parking lot of an apartment complex. The teenager shouted for help and testified he had no idea his dad had been shot.

Jake Scharber-Pikula, 30, a resident of the apartment complex, testified that he immediately took off his sweatshirt and used it to apply pressure to the gunshot wound.

After the verdict, Scharber-Pikula said he was relieved for the Boughton family, who he's now inextricably linked to and supported by watching testimony and waiting for the verdict.

"There's a lot of emotions," he said. "Ultimately, just happiness for the family, and may peace be with them as life goes on."

Boughton's family thanked Scharber-Pikula for his courage, as well as first responders and staff at North Memorial Health who tried to save Boughton.

The family said they saw the humanity in others during the course of the investigation, like Wisconsin motorist Dan Knight, who called 911 and testified that Smith pulled a gun on him on the road hours before the shooting. Tausiq Shaikh of Brooklyn Park testified that he also called 911 to report Boughton's truck going in the ditch after seeing Smith's car driving erratically on Hwy. 169.

"We live in this time where we don't have a lot of tolerance for kindness, and here total strangers come to Jay's aid to help," said Boughton's brother-in-law, Stephen Robinson. "That to me felt wonderful as a humanity, that total strangers can come to your aid in the most darkest, most difficult time."

A slew of evidence — from GPS data, traffic and security cameras to Smith's cellphone — was presented to the jury. Cameras on Hwy. 169 show Smith and Boughton's vehicles driving side-by-side in the moments leading up to the shooting, though Smith testified that he never saw Boughton's truck and denied there was any road rage.

He admitted to being the driver and illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. But he claimed the shot came from the back-seat passenger who has an active warrant out of Indiana and hasn't been located.

The Boughtons believe the right person was held accountable.

"All we wanted to do following that day a little over a year ago was get to the truth," Robinson said. "And today, the jury found evil guilty on all three counts."