One day after Michelle Parker’s ex-fiancé, Dale Smith Jr., was charged with her murder, the victim’s mother has spoken out about the major development in the case and admitted she wasn’t surprised.
“I knew,” Yvonne Stewart, Parker’s mother, told WESH on Thursday, October 15. “We all knew. Yeah, we all knew.”
Stewart added, “They told me they arrested Dale Smith on second-degree murder charges for Michelle Parker, and it’s like the happiest day because she deserves this.”
Parker, 33, was last seen on November 17, 2011, when she dropped off her then-3-year-old twins at Smith’s condo. Nearly 15 years later, the Orlando Police Department announced on Wednesday, October 14, that Smith had been arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
The police department also posted a video on social media, which showed Smith, 55, being led out of a building while detained by handcuffs.
“This arrest follows years of investigative work and a renewed, focused effort over the past year,” Orlando police said while announcing his arrest. “An expanded investigative team reexamined evidence and used advances in digital forensics to uncover and analyze additional evidence that moved this case forward.”
While Parker’s remains have never been found, police said that “all evidence leads to Dale Smith Jr. as the person responsible for Michelle’s murder.”
Parker was last seen on the same day that an episode of The People’s Court, in which she appeared alongside Smith, aired on TV. During the episode, the pair argued over the loss of an engagement ring.
Hours later, Parker dropped her twins off at Smith’s home and planned to run errands before she went to work as a bartender.
However, she never made it to work, and her Hummer was found in an abandoned parking lot the next day. A search for her began, and her iPhone was found in a nearby lake three weeks later.
“I would love for [Smith] to tell us where she is,” Stewart said.
Rajan Joshi, Smith’s attorney who has represented him since 2011, also addressed his client’s arrest.
“[Smith] maintains his innocence, and we’re going to go forward with defending him,” Joshi said, noting that “the arrest came out of nowhere” and no one was “expecting it.”
Joshi added that his team will review any new evidence presented in the case. “Whatever evidence they retested is something we want to take a look at,” he said. “I plan to go through the case with a fine-tooth comb, leave no stones unturned and talk to every witness that there is, depose them and get down to it.”
“My heart goes out to Michelle Parker’s parents and her mom,” Joshi added. “It’s a tragedy, but we just don’t want to see the wrong person be convicted of it.”
