Former Mayor's Nephew Killed

By Teresa Rochester

It was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In a split second it left three children without their father, a wife without her husband and former Mayor Nat Trives without his nephew.

On Sunday around 10:00 a.m. Clifton Lavell Smith was shot to death outside the home of a friend in the Oakwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, police and family said. The suspects are still at large.

"The nature of this thing is so bizarre," said Trives, a former Santa Monica police officer. "It could happen to anybody."

Smith, 44, had taken his brother Dennis to return a rental car on Sunday morning. After dropping Dennis off at his home on the 600 block of Brooks Avenue, Smith stopped to say hello to a family friend on the 500 block before returning to his Santa Monica home, Trives said.

Several men approached Smith's car on foot, police said. Words were exchanged before one man pulled out a gun and shot Smith, killing him instantly. Another man, 25, was shot and injured. Det. Mike De Pasquale of the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division declined to identify the wounded man.

Police have not been able to confirm exactly how many men approached Smith's car. Witness reports vary from one to five.

"He was a pretty sharp cookie," Trives said of his nephew, who worked as an administrator in the complex products division of GTE in Long Beach.

Smith was born and raised in Santa Monica and attended Edison Elementary School, John Adams Middle School, Santa Monica High School and Santa Monica College. Smith and cousin, Toni Trives, graduated from Santa Monica High School together in 1973.

He is survived by his wife Shirin Abdoh-Smith and his children Roya Smith, 11, Clifton Smith, Jr. (C.J.), 9, and Shadi Smith, 7. Roya is a student at New Roads and C.J. and Shadi attend Crossroads.

On Tuesday the family spent part of the day going through old family photos for the funeral service, which is scheduled for Friday.

"That brought up some tears," said Trives. "Cliff would have been 45 on the 29th of this month. The whole notion of birthdays is very important to this family. I thought, "He won't be here for his children's birthdays.'"

Trives said that when it came to birthdays, Smith was like Santa Clause and each birthday was like Christmas, with Smith going out of his way to make each special. "He was like a big kid himself," said Trives.

Trives was the City's first black mayor, serving on the City Council between 1971-1979 and as mayor from 1975 to 1976. Along with serving on the SMPD, Trives also taught part-time at Santa Monica College before moving into administrative positions during the 1990s. He retired in 1997. His daughter Toni also works at SMC, recruiting international students.

A funeral service for Smith will be held Friday at 1 p.m. at the Calvary Baptist Church, 1502 20th Street. Internment will immediately follow the service at Woodlawn Cemetary 1847 14th Street and a repast will follow at the Carter Education Center at 1520 20th Street.