Court documents: Triple homicide suspect in Ellerbe has violent past

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By Brittney Johnson

RICHMOND COUNTY, N.C. — Relatives of three members of a family killed in Richmond County said the shooting followed 20 years of domestic abuse.

Triple murder suspect Steve Smith, 40, faced a judge Monday.

[PAST COVERAGE: Police investigating triple homicide in small NC town]

Smith went to the family's home in Ellerbe, and shot the mother of his children, Latasha Durham, and her mother and brother, the sheriff said.

Smith has a history of violence spanning more than 20 years, court records show. The family said that's why Durham was trying to get away.

Tanya Ingram said Durham, who was her niece, finally managed to leave Smith for good a few months before investigators said he showed up and shot and killed the 38-year old and her mother, Gloria Durham, and her brother, Samuel Durham.

“Why would someone take domestic violence to this extent and try to wipe out an entire family," Ingram said.

(Steve Williams Smith)

Ingram said there were three children in the house during the shooting, from 8 months to 10 years old, and that Durham's daughter was on FaceTime with her mother while she held her infant grandchild, when she witnessed the shooting.

“She saw him pull the trigger, and her mom grabbed her chest and went back," Ingram said.

On Monday, while they grappled with the homicides, investigators continued digging through leads.

Crews used a K-9 and examined a creek more than 15 minutes from the crime scene.

Smith went before a judge, who didn't set a bail amount for the suspect. Smith will be appointed an attorney from the capital defender office, which means this could be a death penalty case.

Eyewitness News dug through records and learned Smith has been convicted of several violent crimes since the 1990s, including kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

Latasha Durham's relatives say they still never thought something this tragic could happen.

Ingram described how she wanted to remember the victims.

"My sister Gloria was sweet and Sammy, he was so suave. Tasha always saying, ‘I love you aunt,’" she said.

Durham and Smith had three children and one grandchild together.

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