Teen killer speaks out 16 years later

SAVONA, N.Y. (WIVB) - It is a brutal murder case that shocked western New York, now a teenaged killer is speaking out.

Eric Smith was barely a teenager when he savagely murdered a four-year-old neighbor.

Smith says in a jailhouse interview, that was then, this is now. That now being, he is a man who has learned a lesson from 16 years behind bars.

Eric Smith was just 13 years old when he strangled and beat little four-year-old Derrick Robie to death, in the small Steuben County village of Savona, more than 16 years ago.

Smith said, "You can label me a monster, a cold-blooded killer, demon child, Satan incarnate--I don't care what name you give me, it doesn't mean that is who I am."

Eric Smith is now 29 years old, and serving a life sentence at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.

Smith afforded News 4's sister station in Elmira his first interview, since his conviction for second degree murder in August, 1994.

Although he did read a prepared statement for a CBS News special report in 2004.

Smith said, "I know my actions have caused a terrible loss in the Robie family, and for that I am truly sorry."

Can the victim's family foresee the day where she doesn't care whether they let him out or not?

Derrick Robie's mother says, "No, we will take this pain to our grave."

Robie's father said, "Some people have said, we need to forgive, but I can't yet."

Why did he do it? What could possibly drive a 13-year-old child to savage a four-year-old like Smith did to Derrick Robie?

Eric Smith says he was bullied, red haired, freckle-faced kid with thick glasses and turned down ears.

Smith said, "Coming home every day from school and being picked on, getting hit in the head with a book, spit wads, being tripped on the bus."

Smith turned his great grandmother for emotional support, but when she died in 1989, he said it was all downhill.

His pent up anger finally erupted, violently when Smith lured Derrick into a wooded area adjacent to the summer camp the two were attending.

The brutality far exceeded Smith's 13 years.

Smith has spent his years behind bars preparing for the possibility of freedom.

Smith said, "To go out into society, and help the individuals that were like me, that were picked on and bullied, and that are going through school, dealing with emotional issues."

Eric Smith comes up for parole in May.

Smith's supporters claim he has been a model prisoner, having earned an electrician's certificate, a carpenter's certificate, and has mastered tailoring.

But the Parole Board has already turned Smith down four times.

How have things changed in Savona over the years?

Villagers in Savona eventually bulldozed the camp site where Derrick Robie was murdered, and turned into a baseball field dedicated to Derrick's memory.

News 4 should also credit Elmira's CBS affiliate, WENY for that interview, for more click these links:

>> WENY story

>> WENY story