California Teen Previously Convicted in a Shooting Is Charged With Killing a Pregnant Mother of Four at a Spirit Halloween Store; Prosecutors Want Him Tried as an Adult
Fox News reports that Fairfield police say Monte Smith, 17, had already been arrested in a 2025 school parking lot shooting and was released before the Oct. 30 attack that killed Constance Hages, 31, and wounded six others. The charges are allegations.
A 17-year-old who had already been arrested in an earlier shooting is now charged with a deadly attack at a Spirit Halloween store in Fairfield, California, Fox News reports.
The attack. Fairfield police say gunfire broke out around 8:30 p.m. Oct. 30 at Solano Town Center after Monte Smith allegedly walked in and spotted a customer investigators believe he meant to target. Police say he fired multiple rounds, hitting that person and six others. Constance Hages, 31, a pregnant mother of four, died at the scene. Police have not named the intended target or given a motive.
The arrest. Smith was arrested Nov. 2. Police say a school resource officer recognized him as a former student from the store's surveillance video, which led detectives to a home in nearby Suisun City within hours.
The charges. The Solano County District Attorney's Office charged him with two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and three counts of assault with a semiautomatic weapon, plus gun enhancements and a multiple-murder special circumstance. It has asked a judge to move the case to adult court, which needs a judge's approval. Fox says his arraignment and detention hearing was set for 9 a.m. Nov. 4. The filing also alleges a prior violent offense counted as a strike, though the DA did not say what it was.
The earlier case. Police say Smith was arrested in a 2025 shooting in a high school parking lot after school hours, was sentenced, and was later released. They have not said which school or when he was let out. Fairfield Police Chief Dan Marshall, quoted by KTVU, said: "It's time for change in California. I don't know how many more people have to die at the hands of youth."
The victims. Police said last weekend that a 16-year-old boy, a 19-year-old man and a 32-year-old man were in critical condition and a 23-year-old man was critical but stable. Two other men, 19 and 43, were treated and released. A GoFundMe organized by Hages' aunt is raising money for funeral costs and her children's care.
What we could not check. Smith is presumed innocent until proven guilty. We have not seen the charging documents or the outcome of the Nov. 4 hearing. Police gave no update on the victims' conditions beyond the weekend.