Chicago Man Killed Baseball Coach On Plymouth Highway: Police

PLYMOUTH, MN — A Hennepin County grand jury has indicted and charged a Chicago man with murder in the July 6 shooting of a baseball coach on Highway 169 in Plymouth.

Jamal L. Smith, 33, is accused of shooting and killing Jay Boughton. Boughton, 57, of Crystal was shot and killed while driving home from a baseball game with his teenage son in the passenger seat.

Smith was arrested in August, when authorities used a Facebook video to track him down to Decatur, Illinois, KARE 11 reported.

Smith remains in custody at Hennepin County Jail. His bail was set at $3.5 million.

Boughton "was the kind of guy you wanted to be around," his GoFundMe page states. "He was an active member of our baseball family and his love for the game and passion to help the players was second to none."

If convicted, Smith faces life in prison.

The shooting "stemmed from a brief altercation" between the two while both were driving on the highway, according to the criminal complaint.

Video from traffic cameras on Highway 169 showed that Smith had been driving "erratically" and "at a high rate of speed" before the shooting, authorities said. Moments before the shooting, Smith — who was in the left lane — drove up next to Boughton's car and matched his speed for about .5 miles, the criminal complaint states.

Smith fired at Boughton — whose vehicle went off the road and crashed — while Smith continued to drive, authorities said.

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