COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Cook County jury on Wednesday found Amin Smith guilty of murdering friend Dushanti Hassell in 2015.
The men were scuffling in a Lincoln Square alley about 6:30 p.m. March 22, 2015, when Smith fatally shot Hassell once in the head using Hassell's gun, according to court testimony.
Hassell's mother, Juanita Gartley, let out a long, slow sigh as the verdict was announced about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. The jury had been deliberating for several hours.
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"The trial was really, really hard — harder than the funeral," Gartley said after court. "Just reliving it and seeing it. Watching the [surveillance] video, watching my son walk happily to meet somebody he trusted. ... He was walking to his death."
Gartley called the process "surreal" and said she was happy "justice was served."
During a three-day trial at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, 2600 S. California Ave., Smith argued he shot Hassell in self-defense after Hassell reached for a gun. Hassell had asked to borrow money, Smith said, and became enraged when Smith denied the request.
"I was shell-shocked because all of that happened so fast," Smith said. He added: "It hurt me because I didn't expect that from my friend. This is a person who slept at my house. My mom fed him. I fed him."
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Prosecutors, meanwhile, sought a first-degree murder conviction.
In her opening statement Monday, Assistant State's Attorney Joy Repella described Hassell's final moments. A witness heard the father of two begging, "please, please," seconds before Smith stood over him and pulled the trigger.
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"The sad thing is Dushanti's [two] kids are so young they'll never really get to see how great of a person he was," Gartley said. "They'll have the memories that people tell them. You know, he was doing the right things in life. He was on a path to be right."
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