Joseph Smith Sr. and Sonya Smith had been accused by the police as “abusers” within 4 minutes of a 911 call placed frantically in October 2003 as their son lay dying of a fast-acting infection and septic shock. As the “child abuse” seeds were planted throughout the investigation that followed young Josef Smith’s untimely death, the media frenzy began. Since 2003 the media has fed upon the sensational spin of this story involving loving parents and the tragic turns their lives took that fall of 2003.
When you read this website, you will see that the false accusations were originally initiated by ex-church members. These same individuals are continuing to do the same thing they were doing 16 years ago, with NO NEW INFORMATION. Despite the allegations they made against Remnant Fellowship and against Gwen Shamblin Lara, nothing came to fruition. They had convinced “investigative reporters” to do a publicized investigation, but it led to no personal investigation of Gwen Shamblin Lara. DCS never came, the FBI never came, no one ever charged Gwen Shamblin Lara or any church leaders of anything related to child abuse or neglect at any point. In the investigation, all Remnant Fellowship and Weigh Down materials and teachings were fully vetted by the police department team. Everything was highly investigated. The police department did over a one-year thorough examination of every book, pamphlet, and video and audio recording, yet never found one teaching that could be connected to the death of a child or to child abuse or the murder of a child, and in the Smith trial, police testified under oath “they could not find a link between the boy’s death and the Church’s teachings about punishment” (Associated Press). Local investigative reporters have never followed up and never requested an additional interview. Remnant Fellowship, Weigh Down, and Gwen Shamblin Lara have been vetted and exonerated by all skilled agencies that would have been able to uncover any form of child abuse. In addition, there has never been any other child abuse charges against the church or members of the church. However, to the contrary, there are countless churches and denominations that have many of their members and leaders accused, arrested, and found guilty of horrific abuse against children and youth. The Catholic Church is an example where there have been hundreds of confirmed abuses from church leaders, yet no one is accusing the Catholic Church as a whole of teaching abuse to children. The smear campaign against Remnant Fellowship and its families has been unprecedented and unwarranted.
In the meantime, Joseph and Sonya are doing great and have been model inmates, respected by other inmates and the officials in the Georgia system. They have been instrumental in bringing Bible classes into the prisons and leading countless fellow inmates to the message of Christ and of God. In fact, because of the groundwork laid in the prison system by church members helping the Smiths implement Bible classes, Remnant Fellowship now offers Bible studies and provides fellowship in many prisons across the country. In fact, Remnant Fellowship was awarded the 2014 Faith-Based Contributor of the Year by the Georgia Department of Corrections.
You are about to see why – after three years of false accusations and rush to judgments followed by only 7 hours of defense in the courtroom – a jury was left in confusion, leading to undeserved convictions of these innocent parents in 2007. The parents are now in jail. How is this happening in America?
The Smith family has suffered for several years, proclaiming their innocence in a frenzy of overzealous prosecutors, rush-to-judgments, and sensationalistic media tabloidism.
How NewsChannel 5 Nashville Twisted the Truth Regarding the Remnant Fellowship for Sensationalism
At the time when police were investigating the incident, a local “investigative” news report was aired that furthered the misrepresentations and misleadings about this sweet family and the church that continues to support their innocence. Click here for video evidence of media manipulation. You will notice that Phil Williams will continue to ask questions to try and get us to answer in a way that does not reflect our teachings. When we clearly shared what we teach, that didn’t make it in to the story that was aired. That is called “gotcha” journalism and this was our first experience with this. Phil Williams has been sued at least twice for defamation. One suit was brought by a Tennessee Judge and he is currently being sued for $200 million by the Nashville District Attorney. See this article where “ Senior Judge William Acree ruled that WTVF NewsChannel 5 chief investigative reporter Phil Williams must turn over his investigative documents as part of Funk’s pending libel claim against him.”
The Latest Information
Please read through all the information and links below for the full story behind the Smith family. It is now 16 years later, and appeals are still ongoing. Their original trial was riddled with gross legal misconduct. The worse example was the Assistant District Attorney of Cobb County at the time, shut the lights off in the court house, pulled out a birthday cake, lit candles and sang Happy Birthday to a deceased Josef Smith. The courtroom was turned into a circus and their civil rights were violated.
Read this excerpt from “The Cake is a Lie” from Reason Magazine in 2010:
While in Appeals with the Georgia Supreme Court, both the majority opinion and the dissent did condemn the prosecutor. The majority called the tactic “theatrical,” “preposterous,” and “highly inappropriate.” Dissenting Chief Justice Carol Hunstein was even harsher:
The prosecutor’s birthday production was not meant to be argument or rebuttal: it was a theatrical stunt spun out of pure fantasy. Its sole purpose was to prejudice the rights of appellants before the jury in an impermissible attempt to invoke the jury’s passions and divert the jury from the evidence. It offended the dignity and decorum of the court and violated every precept of professionalism and fair play. Yet the trial court did absolutely nothing. The event played itself out without the trial judge performing his duty to maintain decorum in the courtroom.
It was an assistant district attorney—an officer of the court and a representative of the State of Georgia—who debased the dignity and respect of these criminal proceedings. Rather than “adher[ing] to the highest standards of professionalism and proper courtroom decorum,” this prosecutor embarrassed every member of our profession with her behavior. The uncontroverted evidence of the events orchestrated by the prosecutor and performed in front of the jury with the tacit permission of the trial court establishes conclusively that the prosecutor did not concern herself with appellants’ right to a fair trial. She cared only to win at any cost without regard to how unfair, how undignified, how disrespectful her actions were. In two footnotes, Hunstein explored the prosecutor’s motivation further:
I am giving the prosecutor the benefit of the doubt by concluding that her motive for pulling this stunt was simply to evoke sympathy for the victim in an unprofessional attempt to obtain guilty verdicts at any cost, as this motive is less offensive than the other possible motive raised by this case, i.e., that she was deliberately pandering to the television audience observing the proceedings on Court TV. See defense counsel’s testimony at the hearing on appellants’ motion for new trial (“I understand the cameras were rolling and everybody wants to be Nancy Grace’s friend”)….Even reversal will not work to alter the behavior of certain professionally challenged prosecutors aiming for a career elsewhere, such as on television. – Reason.com, 2010
Please pray as their case is currently in the Federal Appeals Court in Atlanta.
It is time for the Smiths to be heard. It is time for their healing to begin. Take another look at the banner photos above. The above pictures were not allowed in the trial for the jury to see, including pictures of little Josef taken the night before his death. You can see with your own eyes a smiling child who was not abused, but who would soon tragically pass away from the deadly Staph bacteria.
The only pictures the trial jury WERE allowed to see were taken of Little Josef at the hospital, most taken hours after his death. Those photos included blood pooling (liver mortis), dried blood from eczema scabs being opened, marks on his body from the straps from airlifting and transportation from EMT and two hospitals, tape marks, shot marks, in addition to any marks caused by CPR, breathing assistance, and CAT scan work. His body also showed the results of his chronic eczema and the continual scratching he was plagued with. The State didn’t hesitate at all to comment about how bad Josef’s skin appeared, and yet NO SKIN EXPERTS were consulted at any time during Josef’s treatment, nor after his death. In fact, when the Defense called upon the expertise of a highly prominent black Dermatologist, the court did not allow her to use pertinent photographs that would illustrate important points to the jury, nor did they allow her to speak freely about what she calls a MISDIAGNOSIS of little Josef Smith!
Every physician that was consulted – both for the State and Defense — said that the Staph Aureas bacteria is basically a death sentence with an 80% mortality rate in black males. The information about the Staph infection was on Josef’s charts within one hour of arriving at the hospital…so why does the State continue to insist that death was caused by an outside factor?
How this simple case could get so out of hand is a mystery.
Something just does not add up.
This website will offer you the whole tragic story of the Smiths and their children – a story that still continues as Joseph and Sonya Smith await decisions on appeals and new trials. The supporters of Joseph and Sonya Smith believe that their innocence will lead to their victory. Please join us in prayer for a just trial where facts are allowed into the courtroom, where a state prosecutor does not object to the truth being presented. Pray for a day when media does not want to sensationalize and spin a story for money and to sell ads – but instead will present a true story, allowing expert specialists to be heard and assisting in getting these victims set free.
The Smiths did not testify at trial for reasons that you will eventually learn on this website – but this website is dedicated to getting their story out to the public. As you browse this site, be sure to look at the photos and the video clips that were not allowed nor entered into evidence in the courtroom during the February 2007 trial. They speak volumes about little Josef, especially in the days and weeks leading to his untimely death, and yet the jury was not allowed to view them. Also listen closely to expert testimony offered by some of the top physicians in the nation – even in the world – as they give solid and truthful explanations of the injuries seen on Josef and the devastating infection that took young Josef Smith’s life.
This website will continually be updated with the latest information regarding appeals and possible re-trials, as well as with updated information on the Smith family – from 2003 until present-day. We appreciate your prayers and encouragement for Joseph and Sonya Smith.
For additional information, you may also click on “Related Articles”.