New York man found guilty of 2020 New Year’s Day murder of 54-year-old Pawtucket, R.I. woman
A New York man has been found guilty of the 2020 murder of 54-year-old Cheryl Smith in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on New Year’s Day.
A jury on Tuesday found Jack Doherty, 26, guilty of one count of murder, one count of discharge of a firearm when committing a crime of violence, one count of conspiracy to commit murder, and one count of carrying a pistol without a permit. The trial lasted for eight days.
Doherty is currently being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions pending a sentencing hearing to be scheduled for a later date in Providence County Superior Court.
On Aug. 5, 2021, a co-defendant, Shaylyn Moran, 21, was convicted of murder and sentenced to serve life in prison, plus 20 years, for her role in the murder of Cheryl Smith.
At trial, the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that on Jan. 1, 2020, the defendant shot and killed Cheryl Smith at her home on Baxter Street in Pawtucket, Attorney General Peter Neronha said in a statement.
In the months before the murder, Doherty developed a long-distance romantic relationship with Moran. During that time, Doherty and Moran conspired to attack Shaylyn Moran’s ex-boyfriend during conversations on social media and over the phone, prosecutors said.
On Dec. 31, 2019, Doherty traveled from the state of New York to visit Shaylyn Moran for the first time in Rhode Island, bringing with him a 9mm ghost gun pistol. The two rented a room at a hotel in Pawtucket, and later left to attend a New Year’s Eve party, where Doherty proposed to Moran, prosecutors said.
The two returned to their hotel room and developed a plan for Doherty to shoot and kill anyone who answered the door at the home where Moran’s ex-boyfriend lived on Baxter Street, prosecutors said.
On the evening of Jan. 1, 2020, with Moran’s instruction, Doherty traveled to Baxter Street and after surveilling the home, and knocked on the door, prosecutors said.
Cheryl Smith answered the door, and Doherty shot her four times with his 9mm ghost gun pistol, before fleeing. First-responders rushed Cheryl Smith to the hospital where she was pronounced dead, prosecutors said.
Investigators from the Pawtucket Police Department tracked down Moran and Doherty several hours later and arrested them as they were exiting their hotel room in Pawtucket. At the time of the arrest, Doherty was in possession of the 9mm ghost gun pistol.
Prosecutors rebutted defense arguments that Doherty should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.
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