North Bellport man fatally shot neighbor over social media posts with teen, prosecutor says

A North Bellport man shot and killed his neighbor one day after being outed for having social media interactions with a 14-year-old girl in June 2022, a Suffolk prosecutor alleged during opening arguments at trial Thursday.

Shati Smith, now 31, is accused of gunning down 28-year-old Lee Houpe on Post Avenue one day after Houpe alluded on Facebook to messages Smith allegedly sent to Houpe's teenage cousin after seeing her in a park, Assistant District Attorney Veronica McMahon told the jury seated before Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei in Riverhead. McMahon accused Smith of telling the 14-year-old they could "be friends until she turned 16," after she told him her age.

"What does everyone think about a 28-year-old talking to a 14-year-old?" McMahon quoted from the post Houpe made on June 14, 2022, which included a screenshot of the alleged exchange between the man and child, without exposing Smith's name.

McMahon said Smith "outed himself," however, when he began an argument with Houpe in the comments section of the post.

"Less than 24 hours later, [Smith] executed [Houpe] in front of his childhood friend's home," McMahon told the jury, adding Smith also grew up on that street. "All Lee Houpe had in his hand was a cigarette and a cellphone."

Smith is charged with second-degree murder and two felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon.

McMahon, who is trying the case alongside fellow Assistant District Attorney Elena Tomaro, said Houpe was pronounced dead within minutes of arriving at Brookhaven Hospital, having been shot three times in the head and neck, four times in the torso, chest and back, twice in his hands and arms and once in a thigh before being pistol whipped across the face by the 9 mm handgun. While the shooting was not captured on video, motion-activated home surveillance footage did capture Smith and his brother arriving at the scene in separate vehicles moments earlier and the commotion as witnesses rushed to help Houpe, McMahon alleged. Among those witnesses was Jamel Rich, a friend of Houpe who lived at the home where the shooting took place, McMahon said.

Defense attorney Jonathan Manley told the jury that video evidence and a 911 call will be key in that it proves Rich, who allegedly later told police Smith was the shooter, never actually witnessed the killing.

"When you listen to the 911 call, you'll hear that they ask, 'Who did this sir? Did you see who did this?' " Manley told the jury. "You know what [Rich's] answer was? Nothing."

Manley said Rich first accused Smith in the shooting two weeks later, after Smith had already been charged.

While no weapon was ever recovered, and no DNA evidence will be presented at trial, McMahon said Smith did not obscure his face during the daytime shooting and a vehicle shown arriving at the scene was registered to his girlfriend. Police would end up chasing Smith's brother, Borndivine Intelligence Jackson, as he drove erratically from the scene at more than 100 mph, McMahon said, while Smith discreetly drove away in the girlfriend's car.

The prosecutor said a cellphone Smith was carrying left a "breadcrumb trail" that places him at the scene of the shooting before immediately fleeing to Newport News, Virginia, where he was arrested six days later.

Manley asked the jury to consider the logic of investigators believing the shooter would drive away calmly while his brother leads police on a chase. Manley also said the crime scene evidence is "unreliable," telling the jury dozens of people immediately approached the area where Houpe was shot.

"It was so chaotic, the ambulance couldn't get there," the defense attorney said.

McMahon said a Facebook executive will testify to the authenticity of the social media messages sent the day before the shooting and neighbors will describe what they saw happen on that sunny afternoon in North Bellport, where both men were raised.

"[Smith] told [Houpe] the reason he decided to end his life that day," McMahon told the jury. "He told him it was because of a post on Facebook."

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.