Seth Udinski, FISM News

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The case of a harrowing murder in Baltimore continues, involving a man with a criminal record, a 69-year-old female victim, and a church.

On November 16, 62-year-old Manzie Smith Jr. allegedly murdered 69-year-old Evelyn Player in the designated disabled bathroom of Southern Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. The case has moved to court, where earlier this week Smith claimed that he should not be held liable for the murder, thereby taking a plea of insanity. It should be noted that Smith has a lengthy criminal record and has also claimed to have no remembrance of the events of the murder.

Smith’s lawyers said:

This is not just somebody who just decides to murder someone. I don’t know whether he did it or not, quite frankly. But I do know that if he did do it, it has to be attributed to his mental health. He has a lot of baggage, mental health issues, whether it’s schizophrenia, bipolar, delusional thoughts. He’s been in and out of various mental health hospitals.

Obviously, this claim has caused frustration among many who believe that this would deny justice to the poor woman who was allegedly praying at the time of the attack. The pastor of the church, Donte Hickman, said:

I’m disgusted by that characterization of a man who brutally took a woman’s life in our church’s restroom for the disabled. I cannot believe that someone that did this in our church so early in the morning didn’t premeditate this evil attack.

FISM News will continue to follow the outcome of this case, and we will pray that justice would be administered.