An off-duty police officer who crashed into and killed a young couple in Lothian while driving over 100 mph was sentenced to 18 months in prison Friday.
Austin Kirk Smith, 27, of College Park, has been held in protective custody since February after pleading guilty a month earlier to two counts of negligent manslaughter — one for Leah Mae Foster, 23, a passionate mother to a 6-year-old daughter, and the other for her boyfriend Nicholas Raymond Harris, 21, a former football player whose family said made friends wherever he went.
For each count, Smith was sentenced to 10 years of incarceration with all but nine months suspended, totaling 18 months to be served consecutively. Afterward, he will have to serve five years of supervised probation.
Noting the defendant had no prior traffic infractions, Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Stacy McCormack explained that if Smith breaks another traffic law, she will have the ability to impose the rest of the 20-year sentence.
On May 27, 2021, shortly before 1 a.m., Harris and Foster drove to a 7-Eleven store four minutes from Harris’ house in Lothian.
At the same time, Smith, an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., was driving home from work in a Dodge Charger. A witness later told investigators the Charger and another vehicle drove past them so quickly, they assumed the two were racing each other.
Harris had started driving Foster’s family SUV home, which required a left turn through two lanes on Route 4 to reach Lower Pindell Road.
As Harris was making that turn, Smith’s Charger plowed through the passenger side of the couple’s car. The SUV flipped, its passenger side caved in nearly halfway across the vehicle, and both Harris and Foster were ejected. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
A preliminary investigation ruled that Harris failed to yield before the turn, making a rolling stop at the intersection.
However, a reconstruction of the crash conducted by Anne Arundel County Police revealed Smith was 650 feet away and driving 105 mph when Harris began his turn, making it unlikely the 21-year-old could see the officer coming.
The posted speed limit at the intersection — where 3,000 community members have petitioned for safety measures since the couple’s deaths — is 55 mph.
Assistant State’s Attorney Carolynn Grammas said the crash would not have happened if Smith was driving 10 mph slower.
“The reckless manner in which the defendant was driving showed not only a lack of judgment but a total disregard for human life,” State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said in a statement. “Had the defendant been driving even close to the speed limit, this tragedy could have been avoided.”
Friday’s hearing included tearful testimony from both sides of the crash. There were so many supporters that the proceeding was moved to the Circuit Court’s largest courtroom. Even then, there were only two or three seats unfilled.
Family and friends of the victims mourned their loss but celebrated their love which, though not long, “brought together an entire community,” said Kaylyn Garcia, Foster’s best friend.
For Smith, who graduated from Howard University before joining the Metropolitan Police Department, supporters flew in from his Illinois hometown. His mother, Belinda Smith, asked McCormack to judge “the entirety” of her son: the boy who played the congas for his church and the man who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Before and after Friday’s sentencing, the victims’ families said that while faith turned them towards forgiveness, they questioned whether Smith truly respected the tragedy he caused.
During her presentation, Grammas pointed out that Smith called his girlfriend, who was also driving on Route 4 the night of the crash, but not emergency services. She also displayed two of the defendants’ social media posts: a video “chronicle of his recovery” and an Instagram photo with a new Dodge Charger.
The caption read, “muscle on muscle.”
Multiple family members said they were offended by the posts.
Directing his comments before sentencing to the gallery instead of the bench, Smith said he was speaking to the victims with “utmost remorse” about the situation. McCormack said she found “nothing but sincerity” in his remarks.
Stacey Barnard, Foster’s mother, struggled to agree.
“I don’t feel like there was any remorse. I don’t feel like he was sorry for it,” Barnard told The Capital after the hearing. “I’m appalled.”
After Smith’s indictment last year, the Metropolitan Police Department placed him on administrative leave. A department spokesperson confirmed Friday Smith is still on an “indefinite suspension.”
Defense attorney Barrett Schultz could not be reached by phone Friday.
Deaths on Maryland roads
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Harris and Foster were two of the 563 crash-caused fatalities reported in Maryland in 2021. According to the most recent data from the Maryland Highway Safety Office, a division of Maryland’s Motor Vehicle Administration, 343 drivers were killed in both 2021 and 2022.
Of the 524 fatal crashes in Maryland in 2021 — 34 of which occurred in Anne Arundel County — 87 were reported as happening at a high speed, resulting in 96 deaths.
In 2019, state lawmakers passed a “Vision Zero” bill, pushing forward a data-driven highway safety plan in hopes of achieving a goal of zero motor vehicle-related deaths by 2030.
Highlighting several causes of crashes, including distracted and impaired driving, the plan also cites data collection, stronger enforcement and infrastructure needs as keys to “eliminate speeding and aggressive driving.”
High-speed crash data for 2022 is not currently available through the Highway Safety Office.
Encouraging drivers to slow down the MVA offers the following tips for dealing with aggressive drivers and reducing the risk of a high-speed collision:
- Allow more travel time to get to your destination. If possible, alter your schedule to avoid driving during peak highway congestion periods.
- Come to a full stop at red lights and stop signs. Also, avoid running yellow lights.
- Don’t block the passing lane, especially if you are driving slower than most surrounding traffic.
- Don’t follow other drivers too closely. Allow for extra space between you and other vehicles in front of you.
- Give others the benefit of the doubt; be polite, courteous and forgiving on the road. Do not challenge aggressive drivers by speeding up or attempting to hold your position in your travel lane.
As of Friday, 58 drivers and 19 passengers have been killed on Maryland roads in 2023, approximately three-quarters of the 102 deaths reported thus far, according to the MVA.