Teen sentenced in 2023 shooting death

A suspect in a 2023 Greenville shooting that occurred when he was 16 was sentenced last month to up to 25 years in prison, the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office reported.

On June 26, Jasiya Nathaniel Reynolds, 18, pleaded guilty in Pitt County Superior Court to second-degree murder in the Jan. 16, 2023, death of Aveon Isaiah Collins-Smith, 25.

Reynolds received a negotiated sentence of 20-25 years in prison for the killing, the district attorney’s office said.

Collins-Smith was discovered with a gunshot wound after he crashed his Nissan Maxima into an apartment at The District at Tar River, 1806 E. First St. He died from his injuries.

A resident of the apartment suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Reynolds was arrested by Greenville Police Department officers on Jan. 18, 2023, at Wendy’s, 3501 U.S. 264. His identity was not released at the time due to his status as a juvenile.

The district attorney’s office said that Reynolds shot Collins-Smith twice in the back as he sat in the vehicle in the apartment complex’s parking lot. The victim managed to drive approximately half a block south before he crashed the vehicle.