Father: Son Killed After Spilling Beer at Raleigh Nightclub

Raleigh, N.C. — A Raleigh man was stabbed to death for apparently spilling beer on another man at a Raleigh nightclub, the victim's father said Friday.

"Evidently, Daniel bumped into this guy and beer spilled on this guy, and this guy was very angry about that," said Andre Smith, whose son, Daniel Dietmar Smith, 21, died at WakeMed early Friday morning.

Police said Daniel Smith was stabbed at about 2:15 a.m. at West Side Stories, 200 S. West St., following an argument with Wallace Reynold Bass Jr.

Bass, who was at the nightclub celebrating his 24th birthday, was detained at the scene and later charged with murder. He was being held Friday night at the Wake County Jail without bond.

Andre Smith said he and his family have compassion for the alleged killer.

"We don't have to wish for suffering. The moment he killed my son, he already started to suffer," Smith said. "For myself personally, I can't imagine what it's like to kill someone. You have to live with that for the rest of your life."

Smith, a practicing Buddhist who teaches meditation and anger management to prison inmates, said his son's death makes him even more determined to save young people.

"We've got to start caring. We've got to stop seeing these kids as statistics and we've got to start caring about them," he said. "They just need to be loved. They just need to be understood."

Bass has several prior convictions, including weapon and drug charges.

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There is an easy way to handle all of this. Put the convict on trial. Heck, I'll even allow him an appeal. After he is convicted (again) on his appeal, there would be an immediate execution of sentence. If you are on death row, there should be no longer than six months between sentencing and execution of said sentence. Death penalty would be very much more of an effective deterrant if we allow it to be doled out as it should be.

JuanGrande v3.0
December 30, 2007 1:43 p.m.

another dumb thug going to the prison system. the prisons are filled with dummies wasting their lives and the pain of the lives they took.

i am batman
December 30, 2007 1:35 p.m.

Tarheelsdon'tlikeedwards-Hey,come on ,it's the Constitution that gives liberal and leftist the right to do what they are doing. It's the Constitution that says a man is innocent until proven guilty,it's the constitutional process that allows for even the convicted to have a right to appeal.This is not something that Liberals and leftist made up .It was the founding fathers,If you don't believe it ,go read it for yourself,Fox news don't tell you that.It seem to me that most conservatives grip is not with liberals and leftist but with the Constitution.

jon2four
December 30, 2007 10:48 a.m.

djofraleigh: It's not the alcohol or drugs that's the problem, it's the people. Many people use alcohol responsibly, so don't make excuses for behavior by placing the blame on the substance. You say something must be done by society. You are a part of that society, what are YOU doing to fix the problems?