Ten years later, memory of Terry Smith lives on in Menifee

Residents visited a memorial mosaic at the Menifee Market in honor of Terry Smith Jr. (inset photo).

By Doug Spoon, Editor

It wasn’t long ago that Terry Smith Sr. deposited the ashes of his 11-year-old son in a cemetery behind his apartment in West Virginia. It was a symbolic final resting place for a boy whose story will live forever in the annals of Menifee history.

Ten years ago today – July 10, 2013 -- the body of Terry Smith Jr., known to friends as JuJu, was discovered in a shallow grave in the family’s back yard in a rural section of south Menifee. This followed an intense three-day search for the missing boy by a large part of the community – a coming-together of residents not seen before or since.

Terry’s half brother, 16-year-old Skylor Atilano (right), was arrested and confessed to voluntary manslaughter. Tried as a juvenile, he was released in June of 2018 after serving nearly five years. To this day, some question whether Atilano acted alone or whether he was the killer at all.

“I think Shawna did it,” Terry Smith Sr. said about his ex-wife in a recent phone interview from West Virginia. “I’ve seen her temper. I think she lost it one day because he wanted to come back home here and he kept pushing it.”

Terry Sr. and Shawna fought for custody of the boy, with Shawna making what Terry Sr. called false allegations of child abuse against him. Saying “Terry didn’t want to go”, Smith watched from afar as Terry Jr. moved to California and settled into life in a modest hillside home on Helen Lane, just south of the neighborhood Menifee Market. The boy was a frequent visitor to the market, recalls store owner Dallal Harb.

“He used to come in and get an Arizona Ice Tea,” Harb recalls. “He was a really sweet, quiet boy.”

On Sunday, July 7, 2013, Shawna Smith called police to report her son missing. She said she had left Terry in the care of his older brother the night before while she went out to play pool. Smith said she didn’t realize he was missing until the next morning. Thus began a citywide search by volunteers from throughout Menifee – people who had never met Terry nor the folks they were searching alongside.

Realizing that volunteers were planning to set up at a fire station about a mile away, Harb offered her store property as a command center. Hundreds of people gathered in the store’s parking lot the first day to plan search efforts. By the second day, about 1,000 people were involved.

Sarah Reid, who was one of the volunteer leaders in the search effort, still remembers the compassion shown by so many during those trying few days.

“I was very surprised at how invested everyone was,” said Reid, who now lives in Virginia. “And it was hot out there. People kept coming out, day after day. Yes, this was a story about Terry Smith, but it was also a story about a community and how people came together. Most of the people did not know him or the family, but they were out there searching. That’s phenomenal.”

Menifee Market was scene of lots of activity during the three-day search for Terry Smith.

Then, on the morning of July 10, police converged on a quiet area under a pepper tree in the Smith back yard. A search the night before had revealed the body of Terry Smith Jr. buried just behind the home – an area authorities had previously searched with cadaver dogs. That led to speculation that Terry’s body had been hidden elsewhere before being brought back to the property.

“The FBI was supposed to jump on the case the next day,” Terry Sr. said recently. “They were going to take over the investigation, then low and behold, his body shows up. Then Skylor confesses and the case is closed. That wasn’t right.”

There were so many aspects to a case that was anything but a normal murder investigation. The body was found by a psychic, who insisted she take part in the search and urged police to return to the home site to search there.

Details of the murder have been the subject of speculation for a decade. Atilano publicly admitted only that he did it. At one point, Shawna made the statement that the boys had fought and that Terry had hit his head on a coffee table. As far as the location of the body during those three days … that’s anybody’s guess.

Shawna Smith (left) could not be reached for comment for this story, which received intense media coverage from throughout Southern California. She was reported to be living in the area as recently as a couple years ago. Her last public comment on the case was when she appeared with Terry Sr. on the Dr. Phil television show in 2016. She has always denied having anything to do with the murder and says she doesn’t know where the body was during the three days Terry was missing.

“That's the million dollar question," Smith said in a 2014 interview. "We all searched [the backyard]. The police searched. They had bloodhounds and cadaver dogs right there. I believe he was not there initially.

"To those who think I had something to do with it, news flash -- I didn't. There's a small group of haters out there compared to the large crowd of supporters. I try not to read their comments or listen to them. I have to go on and live my life."

Terry Sr.’s attempt to go on and live his life has been long and difficult. He admits he still holds onto anger and bitterness toward his ex-wife and Skylor, and he continues to communicate with others on a Facebook page entitled “Justice Denied: You Decide”. After a battle with Shawna over the boy’s remains, the decision was to have the body cremated and split the ashes between the two parents.

Until he took his share of the ashes to the cemetery, Terry Sr. kept them in a toy train that reminded him of his son. Shawna had hers buried at Miller-Jones Cemetery in Menifee, under a small grave marker that says simply, “JuJu: Loving son and brother, 3/2002 – 7/2013.”

“That pissed me off,” Terry Sr. said. “She didn’t even put Terry Dewayne Smith on there. Just JuJu.”

Terry Jr.’s death has also been traumatic for his sister Hannah, now 26, who lived with Terry Sr. in West Virginia at the time. A year ago, she wrote the following on the Facebook group “Justice Denied: You Decide”:

“I shouldn’t have to go look at the little train that contains your ashes when I miss you. I shouldn’t have to hold that same little train when I want to give you a hug. It’s not fair that I have to imagine that you’re looking at me and listening when I talk to that same little train … You were the sweetest, most loving human that I have ever known, and sadly only a few got to know. You were taken from this world far too early, and I’m not the one to say things aren’t fair, but dammit, it’s just not fair.”

There were numerous public memorials and a private service in the days following the discovery of Terry Jr.’s body, even though the coroner didn’t officially identify him until Aug. 1. There was a public memorial in Wheatfield Park, where thousands attended with blue and orange balloons and some gathered in prayer with Mayor Scott Mann.

There was a private memorial at Revival Church and another public outdoor service July 25 at Lamb’s Fellowship church. Terry Sr., who said he pawned his car in exchange for a plane ticket, was in California for that one. There was also a special ceremony on Aug. 2, when a mosaic of 350 tiles hand-painted by residents was dedicated on the front wall of Menifee Market.

Sarah Reid said she has often visited the mosaic upon her return trips to California.

“When I volunteered during the search, they asked if I could take the job of updates on Facebook,” she recalled. “I started a page and it grew quickly to about 10,000 people, I think. I’ve done some big events in Menifee, but this was the biggest response.

“Apathy is always a big issue. We have our own lives. But it was amazing how prolonged the search was, and even after the body was found, what strangers were willing to donate.

“Whenever I hear a true crime story, I always think of Terry Smith. When you listen to those stories, you’re moved. But when you live through one, you get to know the real tragedy.”

Sarah Reid greets visitors at the dedication of the Terry Smith mosaic.

In the mind of Reid and others, the compassion showed by thousands of residents overshadowed the bickering between residents on social media with theories about Terry Jr.’s disappearance.

Some in the crowd at the July 25 public memorial said they hoped the ceremony would quiet the accusations and arguing between local residents on social media outlets as suspicion over the circumstances surrounding the case continued.

"I came here in hopes that Terry Jr can begin to rest at peace," said a woman who asked not to be identified. "And I came for Terry Sr., whom I've gotten to know this week.

"All the controversy, that's what I'm tired of. We're not here on this planet to judge anybody. We're all entitled to our opinion, and I have my opinion about what happened. But all these accusations, this bashing of one another ... it just needs to be done."

Terry Smith Sr. joined other mourners at a July 25, 2013 public memorial for his son.

Meanwhile, Terry Smith Sr. lives a somewhat tormented life of retirement on the east coast, trying every day to deal with the sadness and anger.

“I think of him every day, continuously,” Smith said. “Terry was a happy-go-lucky kid. He loved to go to the park and be outside. I won’t be satisfied until the truth comes out.

“My mom had a favorite song that she always sang: ‘One Day at a Time, Sweet Jesus’. Now I can see why she sang it so often.”

Thousands joined together in a memorial service for Terry Smith at Wheatfield Park.