FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A Fort Lauderdale man admitted to killing his younger girlfriend last month, claiming he stabbed her multiple times and “hopes she’s dead,” police said.
Neville Smith, 74, was arrested in January in connection with the fatal stabbing of his 46-year-old girlfriend, Tawana Williams.
According to a Fort Lauderdale police report, the crime occurred Jan. 18 at a home Smith and Williams shared on Northwest 13th Lane.
The victim’s daughter found her mother’s body and called police, who arrived to find Smith sitting outside on the side of the house.
Laquana Crawford, who was waiting for police in the front yard, pointed at Smith and told officers, “He’s sitting out there. He killed my mother.”
According to the report, Smith had blood on his shirt and a pocket knife in his possession. Police ordered Smith to drop the knife and toss it away, which he did. He was then handcuffed without incident.
After an officer asked Smith if he was injured, Smith confessed that he “stabbed her” and “hopes she’s dead,” the report said.
“Smith continued to utter multiple times that he killed or stabbed the victim and said that her life is his life and he hoped that they could die together,” the report said.
Williams had multiple stab wounds to her back and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 911 dispatcher told police that Crawford claimed Smith killed his girlfriend because she was cheating on him.
Smith was initially arrested on a charge of second-degree murder, but a grand jury on Thursday upgraded the charge to first-degree murder.
He appeared before a Broward County judge Saturday and remains in jail without bond.