Joint effort by MSP Fugitive Unit, partner agencies leads to captures of wanted murder suspects

The Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section (VFAS), along with partner law enforcement agencies, assisted in the captures in recent days of two fugitives wanted for murder in other states.

According to Dave Procopio of Massachusetts State Police, this morning, VFAS Troopers and federal, state, and local partners located and arrested Eugene Reid, 40, inside an apartment in Waltham. Reid is wanted for a May shooting homicide at a nightclub in Corpus Christi, Texas. Meanwhile, on Oct. 29, members of a US Marshals Task Force in Maine, acting on information provided by MSP VFAS Troopers, located and arrested Ramon Smith, 33, at a motel in Ellsworth, Maine. Smith is wanted for a 2007 fatal shooting of a man in Hartford, Conn.

Charges against Reid, 40, stem from the May 13, 2021 fatal shooting of a male employee of a nightclub in Corpus Christi following an altercation. Investigation by Corpus Christi Police identified Reid as the shooter and obtained a warrant for his arrest. After attempts to locate Reid in the local area were unsuccessful, the fugitive investigation was picked up by the US Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force, which developed information that Reid had fled to Rhode Island. The US Marshals Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force then took over the investigation.

The investigation eventually yielded information that Reid may have been hiding in Waltham, Mass., and MSP VFAS Troopers yesterday began checking potential addresses. Based on information developed, this morning, MSP VFAS Troopers, members of the US Marshals task forces from Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and Waltham Police went to an apartment at 62 School St., Waltham. The team located Reid inside the residence and placed him under arrest as a fugitive from justice without incident. He was booked at the State Police-Concord Barracks and will be arraigned in Massachusetts as a fugitive from justice, after which prosecutors will work to arrange his rendition to Texas to answer to the murder charge.

Charges against Smith, 33, stem from a homicide at a Hartford residence in 2007, in which evidence indicates that Smith fatally a shot a man with whom he had previously fought while both were serving prison sentences. The shooting occurred shortly after Smith’s incarceration ended. After emptying his gun’s magazine at the victim, Smith fled before Hartford Police arrived on scene. The investigation into the homicide remained open for the subsequent 14 years. Hartford Police recently developed sufficient evidence to charge Smith with murder.

Investigators determined that Smith had ties to several Massachusetts communities, and in late October MSP VFAS Troopers opened an investigation into his whereabouts. Smith was also determined to be the subject of prior warrants obtained by Marlborough Police for strangulation/suffocation, assault and battery, and vandalism; and by Ashland Police for crimes related to a lengthy vehicle and foot pursuit.

Members of the MSP VFAS Central Team conducted an intensive, fast-moving investigation over the next several days, which revealed that Smith had fled Massachusetts. MSP VFAS Troopers soon developed further information that Smith was hiding at a Ramada Inn in Ellsworth, Maine, and provided the lead to the US Marshals task force for that region. On the afternoon of Oct. 29, US Marshals task force members went to the motel, located Smith, and placed him under arrest. During the arrest, task force members located a loaded Hi-Point .380 handgun, approximately 281 grams of crack cocaine, and a large amount of cash. Smith was arraigned as a fugitive in Maine, where he also faces new charges related to his arrest; prosecutors there will work to arrange his rendition to Connecticut to answer to charges for the 2007 murder.