MARIETTA, Ga. — On Monday afternoon, a Georgia woman who allegedly stabbed her 17-year-old stepcousin to death in 2015 pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
Olivia Smith, then 18, allegedly killed her stepcousin, Abbey Hebert, outside an Acworth, Georgia, home on Nov. 14, 2015.
According to the criminal warrant, Smith and Hebert had an argument that turned physical when Smith grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Hebert. Smith then chased Hebert outside the home, where witnesses described seeing the teen on top of Hebert, stabbing her multiple times.
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Smith cried in the court room of Cobb County Superior Court as the prosecutor Jesse Evans recounted the events of the day she allegedly killed Hebert.
Evans said that, on the day of the stabbing, Smith told police that she and Hebert had smoked something prior to the stabbing and that “God told her to go after Abbey.”
“There are no winners. There’s only losers here and there’s none greater than Abbey Hebert and her family,” Evans said.
During his victim impact statement, Hebert’s father spoke directly to Smith and her family in court, calling their actions appalling. Smith broke down once again and the judge had to stop the father to ask him to address the court and not individuals.
“None of us will be the same. It’s not a grief that we live with on Nov. 14. It’s a daily grief and we live with it every second of every day,” Steve Hebert said.
Olivia Smith’s sister, Hannah Smith, gave a witness impact statement.
“I stand before you today to speak on behalf of my sister’s character,” Hannah Smith said. “My sister is not a monster. Olivia loved Abbey. She would do anything for her. Olivia and Abbey were best friends. They were family.”
Hannah Smith said drugs were to blame for what happened that day.
“Abbey would not want Olivia to be confined to a cell for the rest of her life,” she said. “She would understand that drugs took over Olivia. Drugs have destroyed our family and our lives forever.”
After hearing the statements, Judge Ann B. Harris choked up as she sentenced Smith to 20 years in prison.
“There’s two lives that are destroyed,” Harris told the court. “Abbey will never be back, and you, Miss Smith, have to live with that. I do hope you think about this every day for the rest of your life.”
Harris said Smith will get credit for time served. She then addressed Hebert’s family and friends who believed the sentence should’ve been longer.
“Nothing can replace Miss Hebert, but that is the maximum I can do under the law,” Harris said.
She also had a message for Smith's family.
“For those of you who think Miss Smith needs a lesser sentence, she made a choice and engaged in conduct and this was the result,” she said.