FORT WALTON BEACH — Gaige Monfils, the last of seven people initially facing murder charges in connection to the May 17 death of 19-year-old Cordell Smart, has pleaded to a lesser charge.
Glenn Swiatek, who represented Monfils, disputes a Sheriff’s Office statement that Monfils had confessed to climbing onto the roof of the home to fire at the vehicle.
“Had this actually been the case, Mr. Monfils would have faced a far more serious charge than to what he pleaded to,” Swiatek said in an email sent to the Northwest Florida Daily News.
The accessory charge, Swiatek said, resulted from Monfils admitting to throwing a gun used by someone into bushes at the residence where the shooting took place.
Swiatek said Monfils and Smart were childhood friends and a remorseful letter from Monfils to Smart’s family appears in the court filing of the case.
Read the entire October 15, 2019, article by Tom McLaughlin at nwfdailynews.com