FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Two of the three suspects charged in the fatal sword stabbing of an 18-year-old man at an apartment complex in Miramar were sentenced after pleading guilty to the crime that, police said, they committed when they were teens.
Surveillance video captured the last moments of Dwight “DJ” Grant’s life on Oct. 17, 2021.
What remains just off camera are the three acquaintances from school who were responsible for the ambush and slaying.
Police said then 17-year-old Christie Parisienne lured the victim to the stairwell with a promise of sex, but 16-year-old Jaslyn Smith stood watch while 17-year-old Andre Clements wielded a sword.
Investigators said the teens tried to cover the crime by hiding Grant’s body in some nearby bushes.
Police located the victim’s body on Oct. 19.
In court Thursday, Parisienne and Smith pleaded guilty and took the stand before they were sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Clements is still facing a charge of premeditated murder.
Smith described the brutal attack while taking the stand.
“[Andre] struck him plenty of times with his fists and then once with the sword,” she said.
“Was he begging for his life?” asked a prosecutor.
“Yes,” said Smith.
“At any point, did you try and talk Andre out of this course of action?” asked the prosecutor.
“No,” said Smith.
“Why not?” asked the prosecutor.
“I didn’t feel it was my place,” said Smith.
“Were you afraid for your safety?” asked the prosecutor.
“Yes,” said Smith.
Moments later, Smith broke down and began to sob, but despite her tears, Grant’s family said theirs are the lives forever ruined — the dreams not realized, the future that will never come.
“I’ll never have a grandchild. All I could think of is that day, the way my son is. I will never see him grow up, how old he would be,” said his mother, Madge Emile, in court. “We always had this tradition that, when we were going to bed, he would say, ‘Good night, Mom.’ I would say, ‘Good night, see you in the morning, I love you.’ I’ll never hear my son say he loves me.”
Emile later spoke with 7News outside the courtroom. She recognizes it is still not over.
“I’m always there for him, and hr’s going to get justice,” she said.
Parisienne and Smith will serve 10 years of probation after their prison sentence.
According to investigators, the motive behind Grant’s murder was a dispute over a girlfriend.
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