The man wanted for four years for allegedly killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend in Philadelphia was arrested in Georgia during the weekend and will be arraigned on murder charges, police said Wednesday.
Justin Smith, 26, was caught by Atlanta police on Sunday. His ex, 21-year-old Dianna Brice, was shot and killed and her body was found in a wooded area of Southwest Philly on April 5, 2021. Smith allegedly fled the city and became a fugitive wanted by the FBI, which had offered a $25,000 reward for his arrest.
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Brice's family had reported the woman missing to Upper Darby Police on March 30, 2021. She had last been seen with Smith at a laundromat in Lansdowne, Delaware County, investigators said. Brice was 14 weeks pregnant with Smith's child when she disappeared. She also had a son who was 4 years old at the time.
Authorities said, hours after Brice and Smith left the laundromat, Philadelphia police found Smith's Ford Fusion on fire at 59th Street and Florence Avenue in Southwest Philly near Cobbs Creek Park.
Brice's remains were found days later near 58th Street and Eastwick Avenue, about a mile from where Smith's car was abandoned. Brice had been shot multiple times in the head, police said.
When the woman was reported missing, her mother told investigators that Smith and her daughter had an argument at the laundromat before leaving together to go to Philadelphia.
An arrest warrant was issued for Smith on April 9. Three days later, police charged Tylydia Garnett, 25, with helping Smith dispose of Brice's body, setting the car on fire and helping Smith evade authorities. Smith remained on the run while Garnett pleaded guilty to arson, abuse of a corpse and hindering apprehension in September 2023. Garnett was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in prison.
When Garnett was sentenced, she told the judge she was scared Smith would kill her and her loved ones if she didn't help him get rid of Brice's body, KYW Newsradio reported. Garnett also drove Smith to Florida in the days after the killing.
When Atlanta police attempted to pull over Smith in his car on Sunday for an expired registration, Smith led them on a chase and then fled officers on foot before he was captured.
Smith is being held in Georgia pending his extradition to Philadelphia, police said.