A 17-year-old, previously arrested and convicted in a shooting incident, is now accused of fatally shooting Constance Hages, a pregnant mother of four, inside a Spirit Halloween store in Fairfield, California, an act that has prompted prosecutors to seek trying him as an adult. The Solano County District Attorney’s Office has charged Monte Smith with two counts of murder and multiple other felonies, including attempted murder and assault with a semiautomatic weapon, following the Nov. 2 attack that also left six others wounded. Smith had been arrested in 2025 for gunfire in a high school parking lot, served a sentence, and was later released, according to Fairfield police, who are questioning California’s juvenile justice system. Prosecutors are arguing for Smith to be detained, citing the severity of the current crimes, his prior record, and the threat to public safety, while the family of Hages mourns the loss of a deeply loved mother and prepares for funeral expenses and care for her four children. The shooting, which police believe was targeted at another customer, erupted just as officers arrived, and Smith fled the scene, only to be identified hours later with the help of a school resource officer who recognized him from surveillance footage.
Adapted from: U.S. News Today on Fox News
