Brother imprisoned for Terry Smith's 2013 death is released

Skylor Atilano appears during a court hearing at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta in 2013. Menifee 24/7 file photo

A Menifee man who spent nearly five years in a juvenile detention center for voluntary manslaughter in the death of his half brother was released from custody last week, Menifee 24/7 has learned.

Skylor Atilano, 20, had just turned 16 when he was arrested in connection with the death of 11-year-old Terry Smith Jr., who was reported missing on July 7, 2013 and whose body was found buried in the family's Menifee backyard three days later. In a case that received national attention, hundreds of Menifee residents searched for Terry for three days before the boy's body was located.

In August 2014, Atilano admitted to the crime of voluntary manslaughter in juvenile court and was sentenced to 12 years. However, a defendant sentenced in juvenile court cannot be held past the age of 23. At the time, a spokesman for the District Attorney's office said Atilano could be free in as little as four years following a probationary hearing and review.

That apparently is what happened in this case. Atilano was an inmate at the California Youth Authority in Camarillo until June 18, when the Riverside County Sheriff's Department was given an order to transport Atilano for a June 20 court in Murrieta, where he was originally sentenced, according to Sheriff's Deputy Armando Munoz. At that court appearance, Atilano was given the terms of his probation and was released.

Records are sealed in juvenile cases, so information about Atilano's stay at the CYA is not available to the public. Records from last week's court appearance are also sealed. At the time of Atilano's sentencing in 2014, Judge Timothy F. Freer described voluntary manslaughter as a crime committed "without malice in the heat of an argument." Details of Terry Smith's death were never released.

Atilano was a student at Paloma Valley High School and was living with his mother Shawna Smith, Terry Smith and another minor child when the crime occurred. The photo at left was taken from his high school yearbook. Shawna Smith moved away from Menifee some time ago. Contacted by Menifee 24/7, she would not provide any information about Atilano's release or his current place of residence.

Another family member posted on Facebook last week that Atilano was in a "halfway house type thing." When contacted for a response, that person had no comment.

During the search for Terry Smith, Atilano told Menifee 24/7 that he left his home on Helen Lane near Scott Road for a friend's house on the night of July 6, 2013 and never saw his half brother again. Law enforcement officials reported that the family home was searched the next day, but the boy's body was not discovered until July 10, after a woman claiming to be a "visionary" said she was led through dreams to the search area and, along with another search party member, found a shallow grave in the family's back yard.

Police arrived at the Smith home at about 1:30 a.m. on July 7, 2013 to search for evidence. By 7 a.m., news vans were on scene and the entire block of Helen Lane at Scott Road was roped off by police. Helicopters hovered overhead.

By 9 a.m., police and forensic teams entered the back yard of the residence -- manufactured housing on a large lot including goats and dogs. Police vans pulled up in front of a pepper tree in the back yard, blocking the media's view as they removed items to place in evidence bags. Around 10:45, police reported they had served a search warrant at the residence and were removing "possible human remains."

Hundreds of civilian volunteers had been searching the area, starting from a command post set up at Menifee Market -- a store often frequented by Terry and a location about 100 yards from his home on a dirt road behind the store. That post was manned by Menifee City Council Member Tom Fuhrman and volunteers, including members of the Faithful Servants group.

At that time, Atilano told Menifee 24/7 he was home alone with Terry on that Saturday night after their mother left early in the evening to go play pool with friends. Skylor said he left the house sometime after 7:30 to visit a friend and saw Terry following him.

"I told him to go back home," Skylor said. "He didn't want to at first, but I saw him walking back toward the house. That's the last time I saw him."

Skylor said when he returned home later, he went to bed and assumed Terry was in bed, too. Shawna Smith said when she returned home later that night, she assumed both boys were asleep in bed. She didn't notice Terry was missing until she got up Sunday morning.

Following an investigation, Atilano was arrested and charged with murder on July 12, 2013.

Investigators recovered the body of 11-year-old Terry Smith in his own back yard on July 10, 2013. Menifee 24/7 file photo