Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford has backed a clemency bid for a man convicted in the 2015 killing of a pregnant woman and her unborn child.
Norman Smith, 30, appeared before the Nevada parole board after Ford, who is seeking reelection, sponsored his application.
Smith fatally shot Tinesha Adams on December 13, 2015, during a confrontation involving a large group in an O’Reilly’s parking lot. The dispute began after Adams confronted her on-and-off boyfriend, Chris Cooper, at an Applebee’s restaurant.
Smith was under house arrest when the incident occurred. In 2017, he received a sentence of 10 to 39 years in prison for an armed robbery conviction. Two years later, he was sentenced in Adams’ death, with the two terms ordered to run concurrently.
Ford’s involvement began after Smith’s mother, a cancer-stricken schoolteacher, asked him to place her son’s request for a sentencing change before the parole board.
A spokesperson for Ford’s office told 8 News Now that the attorney general agreed after receiving “a letter of support from the prosecutor in the case.”
The office said Ford made clear that he would not promise to support clemency or a sentence reduction. “But [he] informed Mr. Smith’s mother that he would not guarantee her that he would vote in favor of clemency or a sentence modification,” the spokesperson told 8 News Now.
In one letter, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael J. Schwartzer outlined the case and urged the board to consider the victim’s family, who attended court proceedings, as well as Smith’s earlier armed robbery conviction.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford is facing criticism after sponsoring the parole application of Norman Smith, who killed a pregnant woman during a 2015 dispute
Smith killed Tinesha Adams on December 13, 2015. He was friends with Adams’ on-and-off boyfriend, although Smith and Adams reportedly did not get along
In a separate 2025 letter, Schwartzer wrote to the parole board in his personal capacity rather than as a representative of the attorney general’s office. In that letter, he said he supported granting Smith parole on the robbery sentence.
Schwartzer wrote that Smith had “taken responsibility” for his crimes and had received a “significantly higher prison sentence for his role in this [robbery] case than any of his co-defendants.”
The district attorney’s office told 8 News Now on Thursday that Schwartzer did not oppose probation in the robbery case because Smith would remain incarcerated for Adams’ manslaughter.
Smith appeared before the board on September 15. Ford was scheduled to attend but was absent because of a family emergency, according to 8 News Now.
The parole board rejected Smith’s clemency request.
After returning from the emergency, Ford declined to answer questions about his absence, Fox News reported. The decision has drawn sharp criticism, with some questioning whether Ford acted primarily out of sympathy for Smith’s ill mother.
The confrontation began at an Applebee’s, where Adams approached Cooper. He had been eating with Smith, Smith’s girlfriend Bobbi Williams, and Williams’ sister Alexzandrea Williams, who was dating Cooper.
Cooper spoke with Adams inside her car before returning to the restaurant and calling his mother to pick him and the others up.
The dispute started when Adams confronted her on-and-off boyfriend, Chris Cooper, at Applebee’s after learning he had been seeing another woman
After Smith, Cooper and their girlfriends left the restaurant, Adams followed them to an O’Reilly’s parking lot, where a large fight erupted
Smith shot Adams while her family member tried to separate them. He admitted to it but told police it was an accident
Adams allegedly followed the group of five from the restaurant to O’Reilly’s, where Cooper’s mom had pulled in after noticing that Adams was following them.
Two other cars, holding Adams’ family members, arrived shortly after. The large group got into an argument, with many shoving and pushing people. Adams also pepper-sprayed multiple people, including Cooper.
At one point, Smith, who prosecutors said did not get along with Adams, grabbed the pregnant woman and threw her to the ground. This caused Cooper to come over. He grabbed hold of his ex-girlfriend to ‘calm her down,’ and that’s when she pepper-sprayed him, the letter said.
She then ran off to pepper-spray the Williams sisters, who were still inside Cooper’s mother’s car. Smith then pulled her out of the vehicle and threw her to the ground again.
The two started to ‘go at each other,’ and at one point, Smith yelled: ‘I’m going to shoot!’
Seconds later, a ‘pow’ sound was heard by one of Adams’ family members, who was attempting to separate the pair.
The family member later testified that she saw Smith with his right arm extended and a gun in his hand.
When police arrived at the scene, they were informed that Smith had shot Adams, who was visibly pregnant.
Prosecutor Michael J Schwartzer said he was for a parole hearing on Smith’s robbery case, but only because Smith would still be serving his sentence for Adams’ death. He was sentenced to 10 to 39 years in the robbery case, which runs concurrently with his manslaughter conviction
Smith would tell a police officer he found the gun on the ground and picked it up because he feared someone would shoot him. While attempting to put it in his sweatshirt’s pocket, he said he was pushed, causing his finger to pull the trigger.
He admitted he was the one who shot Adams and claimed it was an accident.
Smith, who was a part of the YNIC street gang, was on house arrest at the time for the armed robbery. He was later sentenced to 10 to 39 years in 2017.
For the shooting of Adams, a jury later found him guilty of voluntary manslaughter with use of a deadly weapon in 2019. His sentence was ordered to run concurrently with the robbery one.
Adams’ family showed up every day for the trial, Schwartzer noted.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Ford’s Office for comment.