BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — A jury found a man guilty of attempted first-degree murder in a 2020 Brooksville shooting after investigators used a rented Maserati’s GPS data to help locate the gun in a river, prosecutors said.
Galvin Bernard Smith, 51, was convicted last week of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, according to the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office.
His sentencing will be scheduled after a presentence investigation.
The shooting happened June 21, 2020, at a home near Lincoln Road. Hernando County deputies found the victim conscious with multiple gunshot wounds.
The victim told investigators Smith, whom they knew, arrived at the home and became involved in an argument.
During the confrontation, Smith pulled out a handgun and tried to shoot the victim, but the weapon jammed, prosecutors said. As the victim turned to run, Smith cleared the jam and fired several shots, striking the victim.
The victim was airlifted for medical treatment. Smith fled in a rented Maserati, according to prosecutors.
Deputies later stopped the car, which was being driven by Kathy Redding, now known as Kathy Smith. She told investigators she had been driving it all morning and had gone to get coffee.
Investigators found Galvin Smith’s fingerprints in the vehicle. Cellphone evidence showed he contacted Redding to exchange vehicles after the shooting, prosecutors said.
GPS data showed the Maserati stopped on a bridge after leaving the shooting scene and before the vehicle exchange. A dive team searched the river and recovered a firearm that testing confirmed was used in the shooting.
Redding was also arrested and charged with accessory after the fact. The release did not provide the outcome of her case.
Assistant State Attorney Lori Ellingsworth prosecuted Smith’s case.
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