Dianna Brice, a 21-year-old Pennsylvania mother, was only weeks away from learning the sex of her unborn child when prosecutors say her life was brutally ended by the man she was dating. Four years later, the man convicted of killing her has been sentenced to life in prison.
Brice was 14 weeks pregnant in April 2021 when prosecutors said her boyfriend, Justin Smith, shot her multiple times following an argument. Authorities said she suffered 11 gunshot wounds to the head and another to the shoulder, leaving her with no chance of survival.
Instead of seeking emergency assistance after the shooting, prosecutors said Smith and an accomplice attempted to conceal what had happened. Investigators alleged that they transported Brice’s body to a wooded area, dumped her there, set her vehicle on fire, and fled the scene.
The actions that followed the shooting became a significant part of the prosecution’s case. During the trial, Smith maintained that the shooting had been accidental and claimed the gun discharged repeatedly during a struggle.
Prosecutors challenged that explanation by pointing to what they described as deliberate efforts to hide the killing. They argued that transporting Brice’s body, abandoning her in a remote area, burning her car, and fleeing were not the actions of someone reacting to an accidental shooting.
“That is not panic. That is premeditation,” an assistant district attorney told jurors during the trial.
The jury ultimately rejected Smith’s account and convicted him of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and arson. He has now been sentenced to life in prison for the killing.
Smith had remained at large for nearly four years after Brice’s death. According to authorities, his time as a fugitive ended when he was captured during a traffic stop in Atlanta.
For Brice’s family, the lengthy search for accountability has now culminated in a life sentence for the man found responsible for her death. But the verdict cannot erase the future that was taken from her or the child she was carrying.
Brice was already a mother to a young son and had hopes and plans for her own future. She dreamed of becoming a dialysis technician and was working toward a life in which she could provide for her children and pursue a career in healthcare.
Her pregnancy was another source of excitement. Brice was only weeks away from a planned gender-reveal celebration and had already ordered a gender-reveal kit. She never had the opportunity to use it.
The baby was another boy, according to the information presented in the case. Brice never learned that she was carrying a son.
That detail has added another painful dimension to a tragedy that already left one child without his mother. Instead of celebrating a new baby with her family, Brice’s loved ones were left mourning the loss of a young woman and the unborn child she carried.
Her death also serves as a reminder of the devastating consequences that can follow violence within intimate relationships. A dispute that prosecutors say escalated into a fatal shooting ended not only Brice’s life but also the future she had imagined for herself and her children.
The case ultimately centered not only on the fatal shooting but also on what prosecutors said Smith did afterward. His actions following the killing were presented as evidence that the crime was not simply an unintended result of a struggle but part of a sequence in which the victim’s body and evidence were deliberately concealed.
The jury’s first-degree murder conviction established Smith’s criminal responsibility under the evidence presented in court. His life sentence now brings the criminal proceedings against him to a significant conclusion.
For Brice’s family and friends, however, the focus remains on the person she was before her life was taken. She was a young mother, a daughter, a loved one, and a woman with ambitions for a career helping others.
She was also preparing to welcome another child into the world.
Instead, her family must remember the future she never got to experience: raising her sons, pursuing her career, celebrating milestones, and watching her children grow.
The gender-reveal kit she ordered became a heartbreaking reminder of those plans. She had expected to discover whether she was having a boy or girl and share that moment with the people she loved.
The answer was a boy.
Dianna Brice never got to learn that she was going to have another son, but her family now carries that knowledge as part of her story and the life that was tragically taken from her.
With Smith now sentenced to life in prison, Brice’s loved ones can at least see the person convicted of her murder held accountable. Yet no legal sentence can restore the young mother, daughter, and future healthcare professional her family lost in April 2021.
