Clay Smith was executed by the State of Arkansas for five murders
According to court documents Clay Smith would beat up his girlfriend Misty Erwin and she decided to press charges however she would later change her mind. Clay would go to her home armed with a rifle where he would fatally shoot Misty Erwin, her cousin, Shelly Sorg, 24; Sorg’s two children, Sean Michael, 5; and Taylor, 3; and a family friend, Samantha Rhodes, 12
Clay Smith would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Clay Smith would be executed by lethal injection on May 8 2001
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When Was Clay Smith Executed
Clay Smith was executed on May 8 2001
Clay Smith Case
Clay King Smith has spent his final days writing letters. Smith, who is scheduled to be executed Tuesday for the March 1998 murder of his ex-girlfriend, Misty Erwin, 20; her cousin, Shelly Sorg, 24; Sorg’s two children, Sean Michael, 5; and Taylor, 3; and a family friend, Samantha Rhodes, 12, wrote letters to the families of each of his victims asking for forgiveness and telling them he will waive his right to appeal unless they ask him to do otherwise. No one did.
In a letter dated April 22, Clay Smith told Misty Erwin’s father, Randy, her mother Lula, and her three sisters, Tabitha, Margo and Francis, that he is waiving his right to appeals so that they could move on with their lives. “You don’t need to keep reliving what happened over and over and that’s what appeals would do,” Smith wrote. “If you all want me to appeal you should let me know and I will. Otherwise, I’m going home to be with Jesus. I can hardly wait. I believe I am going to see Misty there…”
Although Smith still has the right to appeal and ask the governor for reprieve, Roger Sorg says there would be a riot if Smith’s execution is stayed. “If the governor stops this, it will start a riot,” said Sorg, whose wife and two young children were found shot to death at cousin Misty Erwin’s mobile home in March 1998. Gathered at the Star City home of Erwin’s parents Thursday evening, family members of four of the five victims told of the heartache Smith caused them. “I still catch myself buying Christmas presents for four instead three,” said Lula Erwin, who lost one of her four daughters, a niece, a great nephew and great-niece. “He has hurt everybody in this room. You don’t want to live and you don’t want to die.” Between sobs, Misty’s oldest sister, Tabitha Bunting, read a poem about domestic abuse she said sums up the tragedy.
Bunting broke down in uncontrollable sobs throughout the reading of “I got flowers today,” while her husband Tony comforted her. “It narrows it down to what really happened,” she said. Misty Erwin’s family said Smith controlled her. “She was held hostage in there,” Randy Erwin said, explaining that Smith would not allow Misty to call, write, or visit her family. “He had no right to hold her hostage,” Bunting said. “He held her in that trailer like an animal in a kennel.” “And now he’s sending us letters with sermons and asking us to forgive him,” Lula Erwin said. “The nerve of this man, why does he have to torment us?” Lula Erwin, who said she had nightmares for three weeks after the trial, has been hospitalized three or four times since the murders and is still on medication. “They’ve got her on all kinds of medicine,” Randy Erwin explained. “She takes medicine before she goes to bed and medicine when she wakes up.” Roger Sorg, who married Misty’s sister, Francis, about a year-and-a-half the murders, embraced the couple’s young son as he talked about the wife and two children he lost. “She was an easy-going person with a lot of spunk,” Roger Sorg said, describing Shelly Sorg. “And she loved her children.” Roger Sorg, who will witness the execution, says he doesn’t know if he will be able to forgive Smith until he is executed. “Maybe after he’s gone,” Roger Sorg said. “When we don’t have to worry about him any more.” But Francis Sorg still can’t find it in her heart to forgive Smith for killing her sister. “No,” Francis Sorg said quietly. “I won’t ever.” Misty Erwin’s sisters, Margo Erwin and Tabitha Bunting both pray they will someday be able to forgive Smith, but neither are sure if they can.
“I pray I have it in me to forgive him after he’s gone,” Tabitha Bunting said. “I pray for the sake of myself and my soul that I can.” Misty Erwin’s parents aren’t sure either. When they heard that Smith wanted to be cremated and have his ashes spread across her grave, Randy and Lula Erwin were furious. “I don’t want her near no devil,” Randy Erwin said. “The good Lord might forgive him but He’s got more heart than I’ve got.” However, Randy Erwin, who will also witness the execution, says he may forgive Smith after he is executed. While they all expressed sympathy for Smith’s family, Tabitha Bunting said it doesn’t seem fair to her that Smith will know the day and hour he will be killed. “He will never know the fear those women and kids had – he shot them like deer.” Bunting’s husband, Tony, who said very little during the interview, agreed with his wife. “In my opinion they shouldn’t let him know when they are going to do it,” Tony Bunting said. “He should have to live every day feeling the same fear they felt looking down the barrel of that gun.” Smith declined to be interviewed.
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