52 Years In Jail For Confessed Hit Man

July 23, 2010 6:18 AM

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A Detroit hit man who pleaded guilty to killing eight people has been sentenced to 52 years in prison after a sharp rebuke from a judge who felt there wasn’t enough remorse.

The 52-year minimum sentence was part of a deal struck in June when Vincent Smothers pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

He avoided a mandatory life sentence, but he won’t be eligible for parole until he’s about 80.

Wayne County Judge Craig Strong read from a pre-sentence report Friday in which Smothers said he had killed more than eight people, but couldn’t recall their names.

Smothers told police he was paid $60,000 for a series of killings. His last victim was Rose Cobb, the wife of a Detroit police officer, in 2007.

People who were related to two victims spoke before Smothers got his punishment.

Peggy Bocks

What does a ‘hit man’ look like?
What started him on this path?
I am very sad about Rose Cobb and all his victims but I wonder if “we” are responsible (i.e., Did he graduate from high school or drop out? Where his parents (especially his father) involved in his life? Was he just a ‘bad apple’?). I am worried about this ‘pattern.’ What does it say about choices men have or don’t have in their life (Vincent)? Do we understand root cause of what created Vincent Smothers as a hit man? The viticm’s families will never be the same with their loss but can ‘we’ stop whatever got Vincent on his path? If yes, what would stop future hit men from taking this path?