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Man convicted of killing UC Berkeley student to reveal motive

By and Aja Seldon
Updated  May 23, 2022 12:40pm PDT
UC Berkeley
KTVU FOX 2

Cal student murderer expected to explain motive in 2020 slaying

The man charged with killing Cal student Seth Smith in 2020 has pled no contest, and is expected to explain his motive in court Monday. Smith died of a single bullet fired into the back of his head near a campus bus stop.

BERKELEY, Calif. - The man charged with the 2020 shooting and killing of a UC Berkeley student is expected to reveal the motive behind the incident on Monday.

Tony Walker recently entered a no-contest plea to voluntary manslaughter in the death of 19-year-old Seth Smith.

According to Berkeleyside, as part of Walker's plea deal he agreed to make a formal statement, an allocution, to detail what happened.

Smith was supposed to graduate from UC Berkeley in 2021, but on June 15, 2020, his life was cut short.

Seth was found lying on the ground, not far from his new apartment on Dwight Way, with a gunshot wound to the head.

According to his roommates, he had left for a walk around 10 p.m. to clear his head as he often did.

Someone walking their dog found him bleeding around 11:15 p.m. He had been shot once.

The victim's mother, Michelle Smith, said shortly after her son's killing, "Somebody literally walked up to him and put a gun to the back of his head and shot him and we don’t know why."

She added, "My gut says that it was maybe someone with a mental issue or it was robbery gone wrong."

Seth Smith started Berkeley as a sophomore double majoring in history and economics. He had dreams to further his studies at London School of Economics.

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