PHILADELPHIA (August 31, 2026) — District Attorney Larry Krasner and the DAO’s Homicide and Non-Fatal Shootings Unit on Monday announced the first-degree murder conviction and sentencing of Justin Smith in the 2021 killing of Dianna Brice and her unborn child.
A jury convicted Justin Smith (DOB 12/1/1997) of the following charges:
- First-degree Murder (H1)
- Third-degree Murder of an Unborn Child (F1)
- Arson (F1)
- Conspiracy to Commit Arson (F1)
- Possession of a Firearm Prohibited (F1)
- Possession of Firearm Without a License (F3)
- Tampering with Evidence (M2)
- And Abuse of Corpse (M2)
Smith was sentenced to the mandatory life without parole as well as 40-80 years consecutive by the Honorable Anthony Kyriakakis.
On March 30, 2021, Dianna Brice, 21, was reported missing in Upper Darby. Six days later, Ms. Brice’s body was found wrapped in trash bags in an abandoned lot in Southwest Philadelphia with eleven gunshot wounds in her head. Originally investigated by Upper Darby Police, it was determined that Ms. Brice was last seen, crying and leaving a laundromat in the car of her boyfriend, the defendant, Justin Smith.
Smith then killed Ms. Brice in his car somewhere between University City and Kensington. Through cell phone records, Ms. Brice and the defendant’s movements were traced to a garage in Kensington, where the defendant then enlisted the help of his best friend, Tylydia Garnett, to help dispose of the body. Further investigation revealed that shortly after arriving at the garage, Garnett went to a Sunoco gas station to purchase a canister of gasoline before returning to the car. Once back at the garage, video surveillance showed the defendant and Garnett load a heavy object into the back of Garnett’s car. It was later determined that Ms. Brice’s blood was found in that trunk.
After leaving the garage, the defendant and Ms. Garnett drove to the 5800 block of Eastwick to discard Ms. Brice’s body before traveling to Cobbs Creek, where the defendant then lit his car on fire to destroy evidence. The defendant and Garnett then drove on March 30, 2021 to Miami, Florida. Smith remained a fugitive until March 2025 when he was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia after he was stopped by Atlanta Police.
Fired cartridge casings (FCC) from the burnt out car of the defendant were later determined to match an FCC found in the clothing of Ms. Brice. At the time of Ms. Brice’s death, she was 14 weeks pregnant with the defendant’s baby.
Ms. Garnett was arrested for her involvement in committing the Conspiracy to Commit Arson, Tampering with Evidence, Hindering Apprehension and Abuse of Corpse and pled guilty several years ago. She has already been sentenced by Judge Defino-Nastasi and is currently on probation.
“I can’t believe that it has been five years since he took my daughter and my unborn grandchild and left my grandson, who was four at the time, without a mother,” said Betty Cellini, the victim’s mother. “We’d like to thank the prosecutors, the police and the investigators who never let this case go and fought for Dianna and our family.”
“This was a heinous crime carried out by this defendant, taking the life of not only Ms. Brice but of her unborn child. Justin Smith may have thought he got away with it, but he will now spend the rest of his life thinking about his actions,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said. “I want to thank Assistant District Attorneys Lauren Crump and Trey Flynn for their successful prosecution and hope that it brings her family and friends a sense of closure.”
“This prosecution would not have been possible without the efforts of the Upper Darby Police Department, FBI Violent Crimes Task force, specifically Anthony Vega, Atlanta Police Officer Laurence Kiser, Homicide Detective Ed Tolliver from the Philadelphia Police Department and the family of Dianna Brice who searched tirelessly for her for the six days she was missing and continued to fight for justice for the past five years,” said ADA Lauren Crump, Assistant Chief of the DAO’s Homicide and Non-Fatal Shootings Unit.