Monte Smith

Introduction

Monte Smith is a 17-year-old Suisun City, California, resident charged in the October 30, 2026 mass shooting inside a Spirit Halloween store at the Solano Town Center mall in Fairfield, which killed Constance Hages, a 31-year-old pregnant mother of four, and wounded six other shoppers. The Solano County District Attorney’s Office charged Smith with two counts of murder carrying a multiple-murder special circumstance, three counts of attempted murder, three counts of assault with a semiautomatic weapon and multiple firearm enhancements, and arrested him on November 2 at his residence. District Attorney Krishna Abrams publicly identified the teenager under California Welfare and Institutions Code Section 827.5, which permits naming a minor arrested for a serious felony such as murder.

Background Information

Smith was already known to Fairfield police before the Spirit Halloween shooting. In September 2025, authorities said, a juvenile opened fire in the parking lot of Fairfield High School after school hours, striking an occupied vehicle with multiple rounds; no one was injured. The shooter fled but later surrendered following an investigation by the department’s Youth Services Unit, and received a combined 12-month sentence across two gunfire-related cases that included juvenile detention and GPS-monitored supervision. Police Chief Dan Marshall said the teenager served only a few months in juvenile hall before his release, and called for legislative changes to California’s juvenile-justice system in response. The new charges include a prior conviction for a violent offense, designated a strike; prosecutors did not specify the underlying offense.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charged with two counts of murder and multiple attempted-murder counts in a mass shooting that killed a pregnant mother of four; prosecutors are seeking to try him as an adult. The charges are accusations, not convictions: Smith has not been tried on the October 2026 counts and is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. His 2025 juvenile adjudication in the high-school parking-lot shooting is described by Fairfield police and prosecutors as a matter of record.

The shooting erupted at approximately 8:30 p.m. on October 30, 2026, as families shopped for last-minute Halloween supplies. Investigators said Smith entered the Spirit Halloween store, spotted another customer he had targeted after a previous altercation, produced a firearm and fired multiple rounds, striking that person and six others; police said Hages was not his intended target. She died at the scene. The wounded ranged in age from 16 to 43 — a 19-year-old man was in critical condition, a 16-year-old boy, a 32-year-old man and a 23-year-old man were hospitalized in stable condition, and two other victims, ages 19 and 43, were treated and released. A 15-year-old in the checkout line recorded cellphone footage from the floor as customers scrambled for cover.

Police said Smith fled within minutes, just as officers arrived. A school resource officer reviewing surveillance video from the store recognized him as a former student and alerted detectives, allowing police to identify him within hours of the first 911 call; investigators located him at a residence in Suisun City, roughly 15 minutes from the mall, and the FBI’s Evidence Response Team helped process part of the crime scene. Police initially withheld his name because of his age; the District Attorney’s Office released it with the charging announcement. Alongside the charges, prosecutors filed a juvenile petition to transfer the case to a court of criminal jurisdiction so Smith can be tried as an adult — under Proposition 57, they cannot file directly in adult court, and a judge must find by clear and convincing evidence that the minor is not amenable to rehabilitation in the juvenile system.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The announcement of an arrest re-ignited a debate over California’s juvenile-justice laws. Chief Marshall said, “This event shouldn’t have ever occurred,” adding that the suspect “had committed a previous shooting in 2025. He was charged. He served a few months in juvenile hall. And I think that’s where we need to have some conversation about legislative changes,” and, per KTVU, “It’s time for change in California. I don’t know how many more people have to die at the hands of youth.” The DA’s office noted that Proposition 57 and Senate Bill 1391 have significantly restricted direct adult-court prosecution of minors. Hages’ family, mourning a mother of four who died shopping for costumes, organized a GoFundMe; her aunt Clanisha Morton wrote that “Constance was deeply loved, and her absence has created an overwhelming void in the lives of everyone who knew and cherished her.” The mall canceled its planned trick-or-treating event the day after the shooting.

Current Status

Smith is in custody following his November 2 arrest and is scheduled to appear at 9 a.m. on November 4 in Fairfield Juvenile Court, Department 1, for an arraignment and detention hearing, where prosecutors will argue he remain detained “due to the seriousness of these crimes, the minor’s criminal record, and the threat to public safety.” The transfer petition seeking adult prosecution is pending before a judge, and none of the October 2026 charges has been adjudicated. He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Impact on Their Career/Life

If a judge grants the transfer and Smith is convicted as an adult, the two murder counts with a multiple-murder special circumstance expose him to adult sentencing that could confine him for the rest of his life; as a juvenile he had served only months for the 2025 shooting. The case has become a flashpoint in the argument over Proposition 57 and Senate Bill 1391 — police and prosecutors publicly citing a juvenile sentence they describe as too brief — while Hages’ four children are left without a mother and six wounded survivors recover. The outcome of Wednesday’s detention hearing and the transfer petition will determine which court, and which sentencing regime, now decides his future.

Sources

“Teen charged in deadly Spirit Halloween shooting in Fairfield” — New York Post: source
“DA seeks adult trial for Fairfield shooting suspect” — The Reporter (Vacaville): source
“Teen previously convicted in shooting accused of killing pregnant mom of 4 inside Spirit Halloween” — Fox News: source
“7 people shot, 1 fatally, at Spirit Halloween store; police say” — KWQC (AP): source
“Fairfield teen suspect identified in deadly Spirit Halloween mass shooting” — New York Post on X: source