Shati Smith, 31, of North Bellport, gets 25 years to life in fatal shooting of neighbor, DA says

A North Bellport man who shot and killed his neighbor in June 2022 after being outed for interacting with a 14-year-old girl on social media was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Thursday, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

A jury found Shati Smith, 31, guilty of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon for what Tierney called “the cold and calculated murder” of 28-year-old Lee Houpe.

On April 24, Assistant District Attorney Veronica McMahon told a jury that Smith gunned down Houpe on Post Avenue the day after he shared screenshots on Facebook of Smith’s messages to Houpe’s teenage cousin. Smith allegedly told her they could "be friends until she turned 16." 

Evidence established that Houpe was standing in a friend’s driveway around 1:45 p.m. on June 15, 2022, when Smith got out of his car and shot him three times, according to a news release from the district attorney's office.

Smith allegedly shot Houpe an additional seven times after he collapsed to the ground, hitting him in the face, arm and chest. Smith fled but  was found in Virginia by members of the Suffolk County Police Department and arrested on June 21, 2022, authorities said. He was extradited back to Suffolk County six weeks later.

Smith's attorney did not immediately return a message Thursday asking for comment.

Suffolk County Judge Stephen L. Braslow ordered Smith held without bail or bond at his arraignment on his indictment Aug. 4, 2022. Over two years later, Smith was convicted after a jury trial heard before state Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei on May 5.

“Smith gunned down an unarmed man in broad daylight and then fled the state to avoid justice,” Tierney said in the news release.