Family Of Man Accused Of Murder Shares Their Side Of Story

The family of a man in jail accused of murder said he is the reason they are still alive right now.

The family said the victim started making threats toward them and that’s when Kenneth Smith stepped in to help.

“I’m thankful that Kenneth was quick enough because you guys would be covering a news story of me and my son dead,” Tamara Wooding, Smith’s cousin, said.

Wooding said he did what he had to do to save their lives. She said the victim pointed a gun at her and her baby and said, "who wants it first?"

"I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for him. I just wouldn't,” said Wooding.

Wooding said her cousin saved lives, when he pulled a gun and shot his stepdaughter’s boyfriend, Tyris Boyd on Monday. Wooding was in town with her one-year-old son to visit Smith.

She said Boyd started threatening people at the house.

"He came out of his room with his gun in his waistband, I don't know if that was meant to intimidate us, or what he was trying to do,” said Wooding.

Wooding said Boyd threatened her and her family and others at the party, then was asked to leave the house for good. She said Boyd's mom showed up to help him move out and that's when Boyd pointed a gun at Wooding and her baby boy.

"At that point he took the gun that he had in his waist, cocked it and put it into my face while I was holding my baby and said, 'who wants it first?” said Wooding.

Wooding said they thought Boyd had calmed down but as he carried his last box of items out of the house, she said Boyd pulled a gun and said, "I'm going to smoke everybody out here."

She said that's when her cousin, shot Boyd.

"I owe Kenneth my life. I owe him my son's life. I owe him my boyfriend's life,” said Wooding.

Boyd's mom said he was shot in the back and the head.

"If my son was a threat to Kenneth, why would Kenneth wait until we packed my car to start shooting at him from behind,” Wooding said.

Wooding said as a mom, she’s sorry for Boyd's mother but believes people need to hear the whole story.

"I feel for her,” Wooding said. “But at the same time, it doesn't give her the right to make false accusations so that the man who saved our lives, spends the rest of his life behind bars.”  

Kenneth Smith is in jail for first-degree murder. The only thing on his record is a DUI from years ago. Records show the victim has been in and out of prison since 2015 for several gun charges. He was on probation for having a gun as a convicted felon.