A Roanoke man convicted in the 2021 killing of 29-year-old Hakeem Logan has been sentenced to spend decades behind bars.
Nashawn Devion Smith, now 22, was sentenced Tuesday in Roanoke Circuit Court to a total of 42 years in prison in connection with Logan’s death and a related firearm charge.
The case stems from a late-night shooting on Sept. 4, 2021, in the 300 block of Harrison Avenue Northwest. Authorities responding to reports of gunfire found Logan suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to evidence presented during Smith’s murder trial earlier this year, the shooting occurred near Smith’s residence while he was still a teenager. At the time, Smith was already facing separate criminal charges and was out on bond.
Prosecutors argued that a combination of digital evidence, forensic testing, and investigative work linked Smith to the killing. A key development in the case reportedly came after investigators examined thousands of images recovered from a cellphone connected to Smith. One image allegedly showed a handgun that investigators later connected to evidence collected at the homicide scene through forensic testing.
The firearm itself was never recovered, but investigators were able to trace it back to a weapon reported stolen in Botetourt County several years earlier. State forensic experts ultimately determined shell casings connected to that firearm matched evidence recovered from the scene of Logan’s killing.
Earlier this year, a Roanoke jury found Smith guilty of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony following a two-day trial.
Court records show the sentence includes a lengthy prison term for the murder conviction along with an additional sentence tied to the firearm charge. The sentence will be served in addition to prison time Smith was already serving for a separate malicious wounding conviction connected to another Roanoke shooting.
The murder case was one of several shootings authorities linked to Smith before he reached adulthood. Prosecutors argued during sentencing that the pattern of violent offenses demonstrated an ongoing threat to public safety.
The sentencing brings to a close a case that has remained in the court system for nearly five years since the deadly shooting occurred on Harrison Avenue.
Anyone with information about crime or public safety concerns in the Roanoke Valley is encouraged to contact local law enforcement.