Robert Findlay Smith is charged with capital murder in the shooting deaths of three people at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church on June 16, 2022.
The gunman in last June’s shooting at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of capital murder and will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole, Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr announced this afternoon.
Robert Findlay Smith, 71, pleaded guilty to shooting and killing 84-year-old Bart Rainey, Irondale, 75-year-old Sarah Yeager, Pelham, and 84-year-old Jane Pounds of Hoover. On June 16, 2022, Smith opened fire during a senior citizens potluck dinner before he was subdued by another church member.
Carr said while his office would typically seek the death penalty in a case like Smith’s, the family members of the victims told Carr they preferred a plea deal.
“Pursuant to this plea, there will be no appeal and the defendant will die in prison,” Carr said. “The loss of Jane Pounds, Walter Rainey and Sarah Yeager is incalculable to their families, friends, community and of course their church family.”
The Rev. John Burruss, rector of the church, said now that there will not be a trial, the church can move forward.
“Our community can invest energy on how to model God’s unconditional love and be a place of healing and resurrection,” Burruss said. “As this chapter closes, we offer prayers for the families of Sharon, Bart, and Jane. We offer prayers for all the lives who have been - and continue to be - altered by this tragedy, especially those who were in the Parish Hall on June 16. As difficult as it is, we pray that God’s redeeming love may reach Mr. Smith as he lives with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life.”
On Monday afternoon, the church poured a concrete slab, the first step toward a memorial labyrinth to be used by both church members and the public to honor the victims.
“It is to be a place of pilgrimage and healing, a place where people are always welcome, and a place where love always has the final word,” Burruss said. “It is the season of Easter. We proclaim God’s victory as we say, ‘Alleluia, Christ is risen!’ May the hope of our faith in Jesus be our strong rock and consolation in these tender and difficult moments.”
