{"id":3004,"date":"2026-06-14T18:07:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T18:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004"},"modified":"2026-06-14T18:07:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T18:07:54","slug":"raleigh-couple-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-pregnant-woman-hiding-body-in-suitcase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004","title":{"rendered":"Raleigh couple gets life in prison for killing pregnant woman, hiding body in suitcase"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) \u2013 A jury has found a Wake County couple guilty in the death of pregnant woman and placing her body in a suitcase.<\/p>

Read more Mike Brown now has been part of 5 NBA championship runs. The Knicks got this one right<\/a><\/p>\n

Brittany Samone Smith, 26, was six months pregnant with a boy when she was reported missing in early February 2021. Charging documents said she was found dead inside a purple suitcase that had been thrown in Neuse River in Raleigh. <\/p>\n

An autopsy concluded Smith was strangled. A gray, cloth-wrapped cellphone charger was still wrapped around her neck when she was found. <\/p>\n

Thomas Clayton Johnson and Emmalei Grace Trevathan were both charged with murder, murder of an unborn child, and concealment of a body. After a jury trial in Wake County, both were found guilty on each count. <\/p>\n

Wake County Superior Court Judge Graham Shirley sentenced them both to life in prison without the possibility of parole. <\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s family shared a statement to with CBS 17 prior to the start of Johnson\u2019s and Trevathan\u2019s trial saying, \u201cThese heartless monsters have left many of our family members with broken hearts and pain that will never be eased, causing us to challenge our faith and wonder how someone could do something so detestable and how our GOD could allow it. A Grandmother should never have to bury her grandchild. A child should never have to say goodbye to his mother \u2013 not in this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to documents, Smith left her home on Feb. 5, 2021 with two people who her boyfriend said were known meth users. When she did not return home for 24 hours, Smith\u2019s boyfriend reported her missing. <\/p>

Read more After 53 years, the New York Knicks are NBA champions. And the wait sure seemed worth it<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

The two were homeless and living in a tent on an acquaintance\u2019s property. <\/p>\n

Investigators tracked down Smith\u2019s phone and after looking through it, were able to determine that Johnson and Trevathan were the two people Smith left with. <\/p>\n

Trevathan\u2019s parents told investigators they witnessed their daughter and Johnson leave their home with a purple suitcase on Feb. 5. It was the same purple suitcase Smith was found in.<\/p>

\n
\n

MORE FROM CBS 17<\/h2>\n
\n

\n\t\t\n\t\tWAKE COUNTY NEWS\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n
\n\n
\n

\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tCar flips into trees in US 264 crash near Wendell\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<\/h3>\n\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n
\n\n
\n

\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t3 Ft. Bragg troops die in Wake Co. crash; 4th critical: Troopers\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<\/h3>\n\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n
\n\n
\n

\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tPolice ID man killed in Raleigh hit-and-run crash\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<\/h3>\n\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

A search of the motel room Johnson and Trevathan were staying in, turned up an orange and black rope like the one found tied around the purple suitcase. The same brand of suitcase as the one Smith was found in was also inside the room. <\/p>\n

Court documents said either Johnson or Trevathan killed Smith in the back of their van while the other one drove. <\/p>\n

\u201cHer murderers discarded her body like she was nothing, but they were wrong. Shame on them! Her baby\u2019s growing life meant something too! He was a growing and breathing soul; we loved them both dearly,\u201d said Smith\u2019s family in a statement. <\/p>

Read more The NBA offseason begins, with lots of eyes on Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James and more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brittany Simone Smith, 26, was six months pregnant with a boy when she was reported missing in early February 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nRaleigh couple gets life in prison for killing pregnant woman, hiding body in suitcase - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Raleigh couple gets life in prison for killing pregnant woman, hiding body in suitcase - Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Brittany Simone Smith, 26, was six months pregnant with a boy when she was reported missing in early February 2021.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-14T18:07:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7235dadab917856fcfcfb51db1012696.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1117\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=3004#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=3004\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\"},\"headline\":\"Raleigh couple gets life in prison for killing pregnant woman, hiding body in suitcase\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-14T18:07:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=3004\"},\"wordCount\":540,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=3004#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b4606bcbd0c30fda8be3ba5b3ef11fae.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=3004#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=3004\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=3004\",\"name\":\"Raleigh couple gets life in prison for killing pregnant woman, hiding body in suitcase - Raleigh Moving News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=3004#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=3004#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b4606bcbd0c30fda8be3ba5b3ef11fae.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-14T18:07:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=3004#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=3004\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=3004#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b4606bcbd0c30fda8be3ba5b3ef11fae.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b4606bcbd0c30fda8be3ba5b3ef11fae.webp\",\"width\":680,\"height\":382},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=3004#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Raleigh couple gets life in prison for killing pregnant woman, hiding body in suitcase\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Raleigh Moving News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Raleigh couple gets life in prison for killing pregnant woman, hiding body in suitcase - Raleigh Moving News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Raleigh couple gets life in prison for killing pregnant woman, hiding body in suitcase - Raleigh Moving News","og_description":"Brittany Simone Smith, 26, was six months pregnant with a boy when she was reported missing in early February 2021.","og_url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004","og_site_name":"Raleigh Moving News","article_published_time":"2026-06-14T18:07:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1117,"height":627,"url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7235dadab917856fcfcfb51db1012696.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60"},"headline":"Raleigh couple gets life in prison for killing pregnant woman, hiding body in suitcase","datePublished":"2026-06-14T18:07:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004"},"wordCount":540,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b4606bcbd0c30fda8be3ba5b3ef11fae.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004","name":"Raleigh couple gets life in prison for killing pregnant woman, hiding body in suitcase - Raleigh Moving News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b4606bcbd0c30fda8be3ba5b3ef11fae.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-14T18:07:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b4606bcbd0c30fda8be3ba5b3ef11fae.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b4606bcbd0c30fda8be3ba5b3ef11fae.webp","width":680,"height":382},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3004#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Raleigh couple gets life in prison for killing pregnant woman, hiding body in suitcase"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/","name":"Raleigh Moving News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}