Diontay Kimberly gets life sentence for 2021 Chicago shooting death of beloved South Side dance coach Verndell Smith
A man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a beloved South Side dance coach in May 2021.
Verndell Smith, 32, was shot multiple times as he left a nearby Dunkin Donuts.
The driver of a silver SUV pulled into the parking lot and opened fire in the 7400-block of South King Drive, hitting Smith in the leg, arm, forehead and torso, police said.
Paramedics took Smith to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Smith's convicted killer, Diontay Kimberly of the West Pullman neighborhood, received a life sentence on Monday.
Smith's slogan was "Stop shooting and start dancing."
"He was one of these kids on the street with nowhere to go after school with nothing to do. Dance is what saved him and he wanted to save others the same way," LaToya Smith, the victim's sister and only sibling, said back in 2022.
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But kids were not the only people Smith tried to save.
"For some of the homeless people who live around the studio, he would get them food or clothes," said Zaniya Cribbs, the victim's niece.
Although partially deaf, Smith "found his voice" through dancing, LaToya told the Sun-Times.
Verndell was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and moved to Chicago at age 6. He was influenced by R &B and the dance moves of Usher, Chris Brown, B2K and Michael Jackson, according to his Bud Billiken Parade biography.
LaToya Smith said she hopes her brother is remembered for his determination and for his dreams.
"He had a disability, the fact he couldn't hear, and he continued to push through," she said. "I want people to go after your dreams. He wanted to be a rapper, and at age 31, he started to rap again. It's never too late."
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
