Two years after 11-year-old Terry Smith Jr. was found murdered in his family's back yard in Menifee, partial cremated remains of the boy are buried under a marker that carries only his nickname -- Juju -- at Menifee Valley Cemetery on Murrieta Road.
Joy Torrez, cemetarian at the facility, said residents occasionally stop by to ask whether Terry Smith's cremains are located there. Officially, there is no entry in the cemetery records under his name, at the request of his mother, Shawna Smith. But anyone who knows the nickname Juju is directed to a spot under a shade tree where those who remember that horrendous week in July 2013 can pay their respects.
This Thursday, July 16 at 3 p.m. on CBS television, the Dr. Phil Show will discuss a case that has stayed in the minds of Menifee residents ever since the events of that hot summer week two years ago. Realizing the renewed interest in the case because of the TV show, Terry Smith Sr. wants local residents to know that there is a local resting place for his son.
"A lot of people in Menifee still really miss Juju," the boy's father told Menifee 24/7 in a phone interview Monday. "I wanted them to know where his resting place is."
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Actually, Terry's remains were split between Shawna and Terry Smith Sr. (left) after his cremation. According to Torrez, it took several months following the coroner's 2013 identification of the remains before the cremains were split and Shawna had the partial cremains placed at Menifee Valley Cemetery.
That was just the latest battle between Shawna Smith and Terry Smith Sr. regarding the case. Smith, who was divorced from Shawna and living in West Virginia at the time of his son's death, insists to this day that Shawna was involved in the murder.
"The people of Menifee ... they’re all still waiting for the same thing as me," Terry Smith Sr. said. "They’re waiting for answers – not some cock 'n bull story somebody’s trying to pass around."
On July 10, 2013, investigators found the boy's body buried in a
shallow grave behind the home Shawna Smith shared with a companion on Helen Lane in rural Menifee. That was four days after he had been reported missing, leading to a search by thousands of local residents.
On Aug. 15, 2014, Terry's half brother, then 17-year-old
Skylor Atilano, admitted to voluntary manslaughter. He was sentenced in juvenile court and cannot be held past the age of 23. Because it was a juvenile case, details of the murder are sealed.
Shawna Smith has since moved out of the home owned by her companion, Dennise Bugna. Several sources said she lives somewhere in the San Diego area. A phone number used by Menifee 24/7 to reach her in the past has been disconnected.
In Monday's phone interview, Terry Smith Sr. said Dr. Phil McGraw, the host of the television show, said on the air that he had tried unsuccessfully to gain an interview with Atilano (right). The show's producers did fly Smith and his daughter Hannah out from West Virginia for the taping, and Shawna Smith was also present.
The show was taped in August of 2014 but has never aired. According to Terry Smith, the original air date was canceled and he was later told that the show's producers were advised by attorneys not to air it because of a pending wrongful death lawsuit Terry Smith Sr. filed against Shawna Smith and Bugna, accusing them of gross negligence in leaving the boy home alone with his half brother.
It took a petition signed by many of Terry Smith's supporters and numerous emails to the Dr. Phil Show to convince the producers to finally air the show, Smith said.
Smith said Shawna maintains her innocence on the show and reads a later she claimed was written by Atilano. Later in the show, according to Terry Smith Sr., Dr. Phil got Shawna to admit the letter was written by someone else.
So does Terry Smith Sr. believe the show reveals any answers in the case?
"Other than the fact she went ahead and lied a lot more, not really," he said about his ex-wife (left). "I know she helped bury him. She's got Skylor so scared still, and (Child Protective Services) has me blocked from talking to him.
"I do know she’s with somebody else and she’s saying life is great. Me, I’m still trying to get over the fact he was murdered and nothing came out of it. But I still have faith that somebody will slip up and the truth will come out."
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Terry Smith Jr. was remembered at a public memorial at Lamb's Fellowship Church on July 25, 2013.
Menifee 24/7 photos: Kristen Spoon |
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