A Georgia man who spent 24 years behind bars for his infant son’s death walked out of prison after a judge granted him bond as he awaits a new trial.
A Gwinnett County Superior Court judge granted 51-year-old Danyel Smith a $100,000 bond following the court’s July decision to vacate his 2003 murder conviction and life sentence.
Smith will remain under strict house arrest in Clayton County with his longtime partner, LaTasha Hyatt, while the state challenges the ruling.
Smith must wear a GPS ankle monitor and can only leave his residence for medical emergencies or meetings with his attorneys. The district attorney’s office will receive a report of any technical violation of the monitoring requirements.
The judge also imposed a no-contact order prohibiting Smith from communicating directly or indirectly with Marsha Brandon, the mother of his deceased son, Chandler, or members of her immediate family.
Smith’s release marked the latest development in a case that has remained in Georgia’s courts for more than two decades. His conviction centered on what prosecutors originally described as “shaken baby syndrome,” according to FOX 5, a diagnosis that played a significant role in the case against him.
State prosecutors opposed Smith’s release, citing his 1999 misdemeanor record, questions surrounding statements he made in 2002 and the possibility that a defendant facing homicide charges could flee.
His attorneys, including lawyers with the Southern Center for Human Rights, argued that Smith has strong family and community ties, no felony convictions and an otherwise clean institutional record during his 24 years in prison.
“He’s 51 years old. He has two adult sons, and he has extensive family support… For 24 years, he has fought for this opportunity to clear his name. Now presented with that opportunity, there is no reason to think he is in any way a risk of flight or danger to the community,” Smith’s attorney, Mark Loudon-Brown, told the court.
A jury convicted Smith after his 2-month-old son, Chandler, died in 2002. Court records state that Brandon left the infant with Smith while she ran an errand. Chandler had recently received medical care, and doctors believed he was healthy at the time.
While Smith was returning the baby, he called the child’s mother and told her Chandler was not breathing.
Doctors initially determined that Chandler had injuries they believed were consistent with blunt-force trauma. A CT scan also showed a skull fracture. That medical interpretation became central to prosecutors’ case and Smith’s eventual murder conviction.
Brandon has continued to maintain that Smith was responsible for their son’s death.
Smith’s defense offered a different explanation, arguing that medical evidence available today calls into question the conclusions reached during his trial.
Chandler was born prematurely, and the pregnancy had complications. Defense attorneys also pointed to evidence that Brandon had previously sought medical help because of concerns about Chandler’s breathing and an episode in which the infant may have experienced a seizure and become temporarily unresponsive.
Medical approaches to unexplained injuries in infants have also evolved over the past 20 years. Doctors can now consider conditions such as seizures, complications associated with premature birth, falls and rare blood disorders when evaluating suspected abusive head trauma, as reported by 11 Alive.
That shift in medical understanding became a major part of Smith’s effort to obtain a new trial.
In 2023, after spending 21 years in prison, prosecutors offered Smith a plea deal that would have allowed him to leave prison with credit for time already served. Smith rejected the offer because accepting it would have required him to plead guilty to a crime, he continued to say he did not commit.
His attorneys later filed a motion seeking a new trial based on developments in medical science. During a 2024 hearing, the defense presented eight expert witnesses who testified that Chandler’s death was the result of medical complications connected to his premature birth rather than physical abuse.
The trial court initially rejected Smith’s request.
But in October 2025, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously ordered the lower court to reconsider the case using the appropriate legal standard.
On July 21, a Gwinnett County Superior Court judge ultimately ruled that Smith had presented new evidence capable of creating reasonable doubt for a jury. The court granted his motion for a new trial, vacated his murder conviction and overturned his life sentence.
Smith’s release brought an emotional response from supporters outside the courthouse. Several people were seen crying and praying as they celebrated his return home.
Loudon-Brown said Smith also struggled with the emotional weight of the hearing.
“He was, he was emotional throughout, I think. You know, 24 years is a lot of time. And he also lost his son… So, there’s a gravity, I think, to this from so many different angles. And I think it overcame him at times,” Loudon-Brown said.
Hyatt, Smith’s fiancée, described his release as a moment of relief after years of legal battles.
“This county has drugged this family like this. I don’t understand why they did. Nobody wins. Nobody wins! Danyel can’t get back his 24 years. Chandler can’t come back here. Nobody wins, but we have been fighting to get the truth out,” Hyatt said. “We are a passionate family that just want justice to be done.”
“I’m glad to be free, well not free-free but it’s a start,” Smith told WSB-TV after his release.
Smith’s legal future remains unresolved. The state has appealed the order that overturned his conviction, and a timeline for that appeal has not been established. His defense estimates the appellate process could take as long as a year.
A potential retrial will remain on hold while the Georgia appellate courts consider the state’s challenge.
