Family of man killed, cannibalized in Conn. feels betrayed over attacker's conditional release

The sister-in-law of a Bridgeport man who was killed and cannibalized by another Bridgeport man spoke out against the state’s decision to allow the man back into society.

Talitha Frazier is the sister-in-law of Angel “Tun Tun” Gonzalez. She referred to Gonzalez’s killer as a “menace to society.” 

In December 2011, Tyree Smith confessed to having murdered Gonzalez with an axe and eating one of Gonzalez’s eyeballs and a piece of his brain. 

Smith is now out of Whiting Forensic Hospital.

Frazier said she made calls to Whiting for five years straight to ensure Smith had not been released.

“The secretary asked me 'Ms. Frazier, can you please stop calling because you call sometimes two, three, four times a month,' I said, 'Ma'am anytime I feel a funny feeling, I’m going to call because I want to make sure Tyree is still there.'” 

One day in February, Frazier learned Smith had been granted conditional release by the state’s Psychiatric Security Review Board. She said it left her feeling disheartened and betrayed.

“You don’t kill someone, eat them, and now you say, 'Hey I want to be in remission, I want to be normal again.' If that’s the case then he should’ve gone from psychiatric to jail so he can understand what he did was wrong,” Frazier said. 

Ultimately she said she was let down by a former victim’s unit advocate, who Frazier claims did not list her as Gonzalez’s family member, which she feels could have made a difference in Smith’s conditional release. 

“If there's another family out there, please make sure your name is in the computer so you can get notified because that would’ve made a whole big difference nine months ago,” she said.

In a statement, The Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB) defended its decision to grant Smith conditional release. 

At the conditional release hearing for Mr. Smith there were 14 sworn witnesses that represented a fraction of the experts that evaluated and assessed this case and Mr. Smith’s appropriateness for Conditional Release.  The expert testimony reflected that Mr. Smith was safe to be Conditionally Released under the terms reviewed at the hearing. 

Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB)

The statement went on to state: 

"The Board approved the Application for Conditional Release based on the evidence presented at and considered for the hearing.  The Board’s statutory mandate is to make decisions based on the 'preponderance of the evidence.'  The Board unanimously determined that the burden of proof had been met to support Mr. Smith’s ability to be safe in the community under the terms of his release.  The Board did modify those terms to include stricter parameters with his GPS monitoring and prohibiting Mr. Smith from entering the city where the crime occurred and where the family of the victim resides.  The only changes for Mr. Smith with this change of status (from temporary leave to conditional release) are that direct oversight from the Board increases in terms of reporting frequency and he is no longer a patient of Whiting Forensic Hospital."

In response to PSRB’s statement, Frazier said it opened up old wounds. 

“As soon as it's finally, OK it's 10 years now we can finally move on with our life, he's locked up, now to find out he’s not it just opens up a can of worms again.” she said. 

PSRB added Smith can be remanded back to Whiting Forensic Hospital at any time if the conditions of his release are violated or there is a change in his mental status. 

Moving forward, Frazier said she will get through the trauma with lots of prayer and by closely monitoring Smith’s case. 

“Since we can’t seem to get him back, then they need to track him for the rest of his life, that’ll be the next thing I push for,” said Frazier.