Neighbors offer details
on dirt bike murder

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Young Eric Smith and his pals zoomed through the streets of Summerdale in the early hours of July 29 on a dirt bike as several of his neighbors sat on their porches, chatting away the steamy mid-summer evening.
On one hand, some of the local folks thought it odd that the 16-year-old would wait until the middle of the night to break out his brand new toy, a shiny Kawasaki with a bright green paint job, the manufacturer’s trademark.
But those familiar with Smith and his dubious reputation knew enough not to be surprised about anything that he did.
Even so, they didn’t imagine that Philadelphia police would soon link the very same off-road motorcycle to a ruthless killing hours earlier in Juniata Park.
But by the afternoon of July 30, after word spread throughout the city about how an armed robber shot the bike’s rightful owner repeatedly in the back, police arrested Smith a block from his home for allegedly murdering 16-year-old Luis Navarro.
"On Saturday night, there were two or three of us out talking and having a cigarette. We thought it was odd (Smith would) be out riding a motorcycle at 12:30 at night," said a neighbor, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Eileen.
"We thought it was a nice bike for a kid in the neighborhood to have."
Earlier that night, she had seen a report of the Juniata Park slaying on the news, but not a description of the bike stolen from the murder victim.
Later, however, Eileen and others who live near Smith on the 800 block of Granite St. put two and two together.
"They were out riding (the bike) after they killed him," Eileen said.
Police have accused only Smith of the shooting. They say he ambushed Navarro, of the 4600 block of Pennhurst St., at about 7 p.m. Saturday as the victim rode his week-old birthday gift through a wooded area near his home.
When Navarro tried to flee on the bike, Smith allegedly began to empty his gun. He fired at least one of the fatal shots while standing over the wounded victim as he lay prone on the ground, police said.
Navarro died at the scene as Smith allegedly took off with the bike. On July 30, a civilian tip led police to a Marcella Street home where they found the bike and the alleged murder weapon and captured Smith.
The suspect remained in prison early this week and was scheduled for an Aug. 8 preliminary hearing on capital murder, robbery and related charges.
No one answered the door when the Northeast Times visited his home on Monday.
The Aug. 8 hearing wasn’t to be Smith’s first time before a judge, neighbors say. According to Eileen and another neighbor, Vince, Smith has been in and out of juvenile lock-ups numerous times in recent years.
Eileen said she has spoken to Smith and his mother about his problems with the law. Because Smith is a juvenile, his arrest record is not public information. Authorities have not disclosed its details.
About a month ago, Eileen and Vince spoke to Smith about another problem he was causing. They confronted him about several pit bulls that he pent up in Eileen’s backyard without her permission.
"He was keeping them back there, three, sometimes four of them," said Eileen, a four-year resident of the block.
The woman repeatedly told Smith to take the dogs away, but they were never gone for long.
"It’s like, you’d tell him to get rid of them and he’d get rid of them for a day or two, then bring them back," Eileen said.
About a month ago, Vince warned Smith about the problem.
"I said, ‘You have five minutes to get the pit bulls out of here because the cops are coming. It wasn’t even his house," Vince recalled. "The way I went up there and got in his face, he could’ve shot me."
Both Eileen and Vince, who has lived on the block for more than four decades, claim that local youths have staged pit bull fights behind the former JFK Hospital, Cheltenham Avenue and Langdon Street, in recent years. Authorities have not confirmed any link between Smith and dog fighting.
Ironically, Eileen generally found Smith agreeable.
"When you first meet him, he’s a real nice kid," she said. "He’d do anything for you. He just got hooked up with the wrong crowd."
Violence and drugs have pervaded the neighborhood for years, neighbors said. Summerdale and Granite is a notorious drug corner. That’s mere feet from Smith’s house.
Earlier this year, one teen shot another teen to death on the corner, the residents claim.
In all, there have been three or four homicides within a block or two in the past several years, they say.
"It’s a lot of violence we’ve had, lots of violence," Vince said.
When police caught Smith on July 30, he was enlisting the help of two pals to move the bike to a new hiding spot. Police believe the trio wanted to stash the vehicle in a house on Marcella Street, where one of the friends lives.
The neighbors who saw Smith riding the bike on Sunday morning believe he initially kept it in a garage at or next to his family’s Granite Street home.
Police have said only that they kept it in one home for a while, then moved it when a mother of one of the boys insisted that they take it elsewhere because she knew it belonged to "the dead kid."
The woman has not been charged with a crime for failing to report the boys to police.
"She should have been charged with accessory after the fact," said Steve, another Smith neighbor. "If your kid comes home with a 2007 dirt bike, (you know) they don’t fall out of the sky." ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com