A man who fled to Arkansas after a 2020 murder in Mobile, Alabama, pleaded guilty Monday and was sentenced to 20 years in prison as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Ryan Timothy Smith, 34, entered the plea before Mobile County Circuit Judge Jay York. The judge accepted the prosecution's recommendation and dismissed charges of tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse as part of the agreement. Smith will receive credit for nearly three years he served in custody, including time spent in Arkansas and at Mobile County Metro Jail, according to court records.
The case stems from the September 2020 disappearance of Derek Hase. Mobile County investigators said a tip received in October 2020 led them to a site in Theodore, Alabama, near Dog River, where they found Hase’s body buried on Rock Point Road.
Authorities say Smith traveled to Pocahontas, Arkansas, following the killing. While there, he allegedly told the people he was staying with that he had shot a man in the face in Mobile. He later robbed them, authorities said, before being arrested by Arkansas law enforcement after a high-speed chase.
Smith was extradited to Alabama in November 2020. At the time, he told reporters he was innocent, adding that he went to Arkansas “to sober up.”
Smith’s defense attorney, Christine Hernandez, noted that the case had been delayed due to the reassignment of several prosecutors and a thorough review of evidence and witnesses. She said the resolution reached through the plea agreement was satisfactory to her client.
Smith was taken into custody by the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office immediately following his plea, which concluded the nearly three-year criminal proceedings against him.