On Eve of Trial, Tyrese Patterson Pleads to Murdering Noah Smith, 16, and Faces Up to 50 Years in Prison

Three days before his jury trial on a first-degree murder charge that could have resulted in a prison term for life if he were found guilty, Tyrese Patterson, 23, pleaded to second degree murder in the January 2022 shooting death of Noah Smith, then a 16-year-old student at Flagler Palm Coast High School.

Smith was gunned down as he had rushed out of his house on South Anderson Street in Bunnell to look at a commotion outside as Patterson and others engaged in a shootout, itself the result of a grudge. No one had aimed to kill Smith, who Patterson considered to be his “best friend.”




Patterson is one of three people accused in the killing of Smith. The others are Stephen Monroe (a.k.a. “Kreek”) and Devandre Williams (known as “Dre”). Patterson, Monroe and Williams were in a car together, shooting at Terrell Sampson, who was shooting back–and who was charged with three counts of attempted murder. Monroe is scheduled for trial on a first-degree murder charge next month.

Williams faces a second degree murder charge, also punishable by life in prison, in the Noah Smith case. He also faces a second-degree felony murder charge in the shooting death of Keymarion Hall, another FPC student, in similar circumstances as that of Hall, just months later. (See: “Keymarion Hall, 10th Grader at Flagler Palm Coast High School, Is Shot and Killed, 24 Year Old Wounded.”) Williams is scheduled for trial the same week as Monroe. Sampson pleaded to the attempted second degree murder charges and is awaiting sentencing on Aug. 9.

Now that Patterson has pleaded out he may turn state’s witness in exchange for some leniency at sentencing. It is one reason why he is being held at the St. Johns County jail, as opposed to being held at the Flagler County jail–for his protection.




The case is taking on the nearly identical methodology, from the state’s perspective, as that of Princess Williams, the young co-conspirator in the attempted murder of then-19-year-old Carl St. Felix in 2018, when she was 20. The shooting of Felix–Williams fired the gun–left him severely disabled and unable to care for himself. In a slog of a case that took years to resolve, Williams’s agreement to turn state’s witness allowed the prosecution to win pleas and convictions, one after the other, of Ringleader Jimaya Baker (15 years), Diovion Smith (four years) and Lauryn Darnell (three years). Williams got 20 years, after facing the possibility of life in prison.

The state is likely hoping for the same kind of domino effect with Devandre Williams and Monroe, and with Sampson already fallen. The evidence against them, especially with Patterson in the state’s camp, is significant. Patterson had been fighting the murder charge until Perkins ruled against the defense’s motion to suppress what amounted to Patterson’s recorded confession to sheriff’s detectives, as he was being interviewed at the county jai without his attorney.

The detectives showed him video that incriminated Patterson, who went on to describe to the detectives in detail exactly how the shooting went down, where he was sitting in the car, where the other two were sitting, and how it had all been the culmination of a grudge match with Terrell Sampson. Devandre Williams and Monroe spoke with authorities during the investigation, though Monroe told authorities he did not shoot a firearm and he wasn’t sure if Williams had. Williams, however, pinned the shooting on Monroe and Patterson, saying he himself had not fired a gun.




Patterson is leaving it to a judge to decide how many years he will spend in prison beyond the minimum mandatory 25. The range, according to the negotiated plea, is up to 50 years. Life in prison is now off the table. Patterson’s attorney will argue for as close to the mandatory minimum of 25 as possible. If the state is able to exert pressure on Williams and Monroe with Patterson’s testimony, increasing the chances of pleas in those cases, the state will be more inclined to ask for less than the maximum penalty against Patterson.

Patterson was to go on trial today. He pleaded before Circuit Judge Terence Perkins last Thursday, with his attorney, Tim Pribisco, at his side. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 6, well after the two other scheduled trials. He also pleaded to two lesser charges of possession of a firearm by a felon, each for 15 years in prison, but to be served concurrently with the penalty on the murder charge.

The case was investigated by Sheriff’s detective Darrell Butler, and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Mark Johnson.