Jury convicts man of 1st-degree murder for gunning down his mom, her friend

A McKeesport man will spend the rest of his life in state prison after a jury on Tuesday found him guilty of killing his mother and her friend last year in Homestead.

John Malcolm Smith V, 26, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for killing Antoinette Porterfield, 45, and John West, 54.

Smith, who acted as his own attorney during the week-long trial, showed no reaction as the verdict was read in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court just after 10 a.m.

The jury began deliberating around 3 p.m. Monday and was out for less than three hours.

A sentencing date has not yet been set but is expected within 90 days.

First-degree murder in Pennsylvania carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison with no chance for parole.

Allegheny County Police charged Smith with two counts of criminal homicide after they said he shot and killed both Porterfield and West at her home on West 15th Avenue in Homestead around 4 p.m. on Aug. 13, 2024.

Throughout the trial, the prosecution presented multiple witnesses who said Smith had a hostile relationship with his mother, including previously assaulting her.

Just a few days before she was killed, police said Smith beat his mother so severely she had to be hospitalized.

Then, Smith’s brother testified, two days before Porterfield was killed, Smith fired four shots at him in her backyard.

During closing arguments on Monday, Smith told the jury most of the evidence presented during the trial was about prior incidents and not about the homicides.

“Evidence of other crimes is designed to distract you,” he said. “You are here to judge whether I am guilty of events for Aug. 13, 2024.”

But Allegheny County Deputy District Attorney Ryan Kiray told the jury that several neighbors placed Smith at the scene that day and that he had a “deranged” look on his face.

“Nothing sparked the defendant’s emotions and anger quite like Antoinette Porterfield,” the prosecutor said.