Farmington's Last Homicide Took Lives of Kind Elderly Couple in 2005

The death Farmington resident Kaitlin Hehir, 29, whose body was found in her home on Colchester Saturday, was the first homicide investigated by Farmington Public Safety in nearly eight years. 

The last time homicide touched the community, residents mourned the death of a kind, elderly couple whose generosity of spirit was repaid with violence. 

Lloyd Smith, Jr., 87, and Dorothy Smith, 85, were stabbed to death on Sept. 7, 2005, in their home on State Street by a man they had tried to help a number of times. Robert Dawayne Jackson, now 54, was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and is currently serving a life sentence without possibility of parole at Chippewa Correctional Facility in Kincheloe, MI. 

According to reports published in The Oakland Press at the time of crime, Jackson had previously beaten and robbed the Smiths, who met him in 1991 through their church. One article noted that neighbors said the Smiths often helped parolees; another indicated that Jackson stayed with the couple more than once.

The Michigan Dept. of Corrections offender tracking website shows Jackson's criminal history began with a 1993 conviction on drug charges. He had been released from prison after serving a sentence of 5 years to life on a first degree home invasion conviction in 1999.

During the trial, The Oakland Press reported, Jackson's attorney Larry Kaluzny "said Jackson loved the Smiths, calling them the only family he ever had."