Man Charged with Murdering Pregnant Cranston Woman, Setting Fire

A 29-year-old Providence man is facing charges of murder, arson and willful killing of an unborn child for allegedly beating a pregnant Cranston woman and setting a fire in her third-floor apartment as she lay unconscious on the floor last Friday.

Born Smith, 29, was arrested Tuesday night in Providence, four days after members of the Cranston Fire Department found the body of of his girlfriend, Aliss Collins, inside her Marcy Street apartment. They had been involved in an intimate relationship for the past 10 months that has been described as strained and tense by family members.

The state Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death as blunt force trauma, smoke inhalation with elevated levels of carbon monoxide, said Cranston Police Chief Michael J. Winquist at a Wednesday morning press conference. Behind him were members of all the agencies that participated in an exhaustive investigation that began moments after the heinous crime, including the Cranston Police and Fire Departments, the Providence Police Department, the state police, Fire Marshal’s office and the Attorney General’s office.

The around-the-clock, intensive investigation began with a few clues from witnesses who described a black heavyset man seen fleeing the scene after the fire began. It culminated in Smith’s arrest Tuesday night at around 11 p.m. after Providence detectives spotted him walking toward his apartment.

Winquist said detectives knew that Smith doesn’t own a car and walks everywhere and he was captured right around when Cranston detectives were executing a search warrant at his apartment as their investigation progressed.

“It was truly a team effort,” Winquist said, adding that “this investigation does not stop today, as detectives continue to follow up on further information.”

The family of Collins has asked for privacy and are mourning the loss of a woman described as looking forward to being a mother. Winquist offered thoughts and prayers on behalf of law enforcement who are working on the case.

“This crime is particularly heinous as it took the life of both an expecting mother and her unborn child,” Winquist said. “I commend all of the Cranston Police Detective Division, as well as our law enforcement partners, who worked tirelessly over the past four days to ensure that the person believed to be responsible for this crime was arrested.”

Winquist said that they have a strong case against Smith based on evidence seized from the scene and “strong circumstantial evidence developed during the course of the investigation.”

Cranston Mayor Allan W. Fung said he has been in contact with the family and pledged that the city and police department will “continue to stand with the family.”

“The arrest is just the beginning of the criminal justice process and we will stand with them until justice has been achieved,” Fung said.

The family specifically asked authorities to tell the media to respect their privacy ”as they understandably are grieving,” Fung said.

Winquist said that Smith has no prior arrests and police do not have a clear motive for the killing. Police are still piecing together information about what exactly happened the night Collins was killed.

The fire department was dispatched to 35/37 Marcy Street to battle a fire in the third-floor apartment of the three-family house at around 7:42 p.m. on Nov. 13.

Collins was found inside and transported to Rhode Island Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Police said she lived in the apartment with a roommate who was not home at the time. Nobody else in the house was injured and the fire was contained to Collins’ apartment.

The investigation into the fire shows that it was intentionally set, though authorities said they have not completed the investigation.

Smith was to be arraigned at 1 p.m. in Third Division District Court in Warwick.

Winquist publicly recognized the lead investigators on the case, Cranston Police Detectives John Cardone and Michael Iacone. He also mentioned Sgt. Michael Patnaud of the department’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Lt. John Grassell of the Rhode Island State Police Forensic Services Unit.