Full Notification

LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
MEDIA RELATIONS DIVISION

STEVE COOLEY District Attorney JOSEPH SCOTT Director
JOHN K. SPILLANE Chief Deputy District Attorney SANDI GIBBONS P.I.O.
JANE ROBISON News Secretary
SHIARA M. DÁVILA Asst. P.I.O.


18-1112 Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center
210 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 974-3525

March 4, 2011

Former NFL defense end, two others charged in Lancaster murder


LANCASTER – Former Raiders defensive end Anthony Wayne Smith and two purported associates have been charged with murdering a 31-year-old man in Lancaster more than two years ago, the District Attorney’s office announced today with the arrest of all three defendants.

Smith, 43 (dob 6-20-1967), of Fontana; Charles Eric Honest, 41 (dob 12-7-1969), of Los Angeles; and Dewann Wesley White, 32 (dob 6-2-1978), of Bloomington, were charged last month with murdering 31-year-old Maurilio Ponce on Oct. 7, 2008. They were arrested earlier this week.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Blake said Honest appeared in Lancaster Superior Court yesterday and his arraignment was put over until March 17 in Department A01. Smith and White were due in that court for arraignment this afternoon. Bail for Smith and Honest was recommended at $1 million each, while White’s was recommended at $1.05 million.

The defendants are charged with one count of murder. The complaint alleged that Honest also had a prior voluntary manslaughter conviction (YA 023880) in Torrance in 1996.

Blake said Ponce, from Lancaster, was beaten and shot several times before his body was dumped near the Antelope Valley poppy fields about 11 miles west of Lancaster. The case was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and filed on Feb. 16 as a felony complaint for arrest warrant after investigators presented evidence to Blake.

Smith played professional football with the Raiders between 1991 and 1998. He was living in Marina Del Rey at the time Ponce was killed.


Sandi Gibbons, Public Information Officer
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Criminal Justice Center
210 W. Temple St., 18th Floor
Los Angeles CA 90012
Phone: 213-974-3528