Pennsylvania state law required an Allegheny County judge to sentence a McKeesport man to life in prison without parole for the 2024 murders of his mother and a friend.
Prosecutors and a pair of mourning families, however, asked Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Satler to do more and acknowledge “the profound void” left by the murders.
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“We seek a sentence that reflects the severity of the crime,” the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement, “and affirm that such violence disrupts families and communities in lasting, devastating ways.”
Satler then sentenced John Malcolm Smith V, 26, of McKeesport, to two consecutive life terms for the murders of Antoinette Porterfield, 45, and John West, 54.
“(Smith) entered my daughter’s home and murdered her and her friend John Keith West,” Betty Porterfield, the victim’s mother and Smith’s grandmother, said in a handwritten impact statement. “I knew John West to be a very kind and gentle soul … he was the yin to Antoinette’s yang.”
West’s life “was ripped away by violence and explained away as if he was simply a footnote to someone’s wrath,” his family wrote in a joint statement.
“The impact of his death stretches beyond the immediate grief,” the statement added. “Our family will never celebrate a holiday the same way again. Our gatherings will be shaded by the absence of his steady presence and laughter.”
In October, a jury debated for less than three hours before convicting Smith on two charges of first-degree murder.
First-degree murder in Pennsylvania carries a mandatory life sentence with no prospect of release.
Smith, who acted as his own counsel, had no reaction when the verdict was read at the end of his weeklong trial.
Allegheny County Police charged Smith with two charges of criminal homicide after he allegedly shot and killed Porterfield and West at her home on West 15th Avenue in Homestead at 4 p.m. on August 13, 2024.
Throughout the trial, the prosecution introduced numerous witnesses who claimed Smith had a violent relationship with his mother, including previously assaulting her.
According to investigators, Smith beat his mother so brutally that she had to be hospitalized just a few days before her death. Then, Smith’s brother testified that two days before Porterfield was slain, Smith shot him four times in her backyard.
In closing arguments, Smith reminded jurors that the majority of the evidence produced during the trial was unrelated to the homicides.
“Evidence of other crimes is designed to distract you,” he said.
However, Allegheny County Deputy District Attorney Ryan Kiray said that Smith was there at the location that day and had a “deranged” expression on his face, as reported by multiple neighbors.
“Nothing sparked the defendant’s emotions and anger quite like Antoinette Porterfield,” the prosecutor said.
