Shawn Smith

Beloved husband, father, and grandfather, Shawn Smith, age 63, of Chancellor, Alabama, passed away Saturday, December 10, 2022 at his home after a long battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M., Friday, December 16, 2022 at Searcy Funeral Home and Crematory with Pastor Tommy Smith and Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham officiating. The family will receive friends beginning at 1:00 P.M. until service time. Flowers will be accepted or memorial donations may be made to the ALS Association Alabama Chapter, 300 Cahaba Park, Suite 209, Birmingham, AL 35242. Shawn was a 44-year law enforcement veteran. He retired from the Montgomery Police Department, AL. During his tenure at MPD, he rose through the ranks and was promoted to Detective, Corporal, Sergeant, and Lieutenant. During his last six years, he was the Commander of the Homicide Unit which he was tasked with forming. He was involved in over 350 murder investigations, several hundred suicides and accidental or undetermined death investigations. During this time, he worked on a part-time basis for the State Medical Examiner’s Office, where he assisted with post-mortem examinations. He was also an adjunct instructor at both the Montgomery Police Academy and the Alabama State Trooper Academy. After retiring from MPD, he went on to work as a deputy for the Autauga County, AL Sheriff Department before accepting a position at the Montgomery County Community Corrections Center. There he supervised inmates from the Department of Corrections that had been sentenced to prison but were able to be rehabilitated and eventually released back into the community. He then accepted a position at the Alabama Attorney General’s Office as their lead cold case investigator. The primary focus of the Cold Case Unit was to review unsolved cold case sexual assaults and homicides in all 67 counties in the State of Alabama. He obtained convictions on fourteen individuals in cases dating back to 1985. He provided training throughout the State of Alabama to federal, state, county, and municipal law enforcement agency focusing on methodology and investigative strategies when investigating violent crimes cold cases as well as death and homicide investigations. Upon retirement from the AG’s Office, he moved to south Alabama to settle down and enjoy the scenery. He accepted a part-time position with the Geneva County Sheriff’s Office as an investigator, where he primarily worked the death and homicide cases. He was an active member of the Chancellor Neighborhood Watch. He officially retired on July 31, 2021, after receiving his terminal diagnosis. He was preceded in death by his parents Samuel Grady and Othella Bertha Smith. Survivors include his wife, Kristie Smith, Chancellor, AL; three sons, Andrew Smith (Dana), Prattville, AL; Jonathan Smith (Tristan), Glenwood, AL; Tristan Smith, Chancellor, AL; two grandchildren, Sam and Katie Smith, Prattville, AL. The family would like to acknowledge and give special thanks to the following friends and caregivers: Jennifer Baggett, Summer Cagle, Melissa Taylor, Allen Cole, Gerald Evans, Rachel Thompson, and Jessica Owens for their love and care of Shawn. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Shawn Smith, please visit our flower store.