Judge spares woman from prison for fatally shooting cousin in St. Paul parking lot

A judge has spared a 44-year-old woman from being sent to prison for the apparent accidental shooting that killed her cousin in a St. Paul apartment building parking lot more than two years ago.

Nicole L. Smith, of St. Paul, was sentenced Thursday in Ramsey County District Court after pleading guilty to second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death on Oct. 12, 2020, of La­Wanda Wade, 44, of St. Paul.

Judge DeAnne Hilgers sentenced Smith to a term of nearly 3 ¹⁄₂ years, but stayed the time for five years, meaning she won't be sent to prison as long as she abides by the conditions of supervised probation. Those include remaining law-abiding, no possession of firearms, no alcohol or illicit drug use, and undergoing cognitive skills training.

Smith entered what is known as an Alford plea, meaning she maintains her innocence but acknowledges the prosecution has enough evidence to win a conviction. The plea deal included dismissal of all the other charges: second- and third-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and two assault counts.

A man who witnessed the shooting told police he thought Smith "accidentally shot [Wade] by the way she was acting," the criminal complaint read. Smith laid down on the ground and cried, he told police, and he thought she was genuinely grieving.

According to the complaint:

Officers arrived to the "chaotic scene" on W. Stevens Street and found Smith trying to help her wounded cousin.

Wade had been arguing with a man and woman who lived at the apartment building. At one point, Wade threw a grill at the couple, and they responded by hitting her with baseball bats. A fight ensued and Smith opened fire, hitting Wade in the back and the other woman in the arm.

The woman told police that she and Wade were at odds because Wade "had been hitting" on her boyfriend of many years.