VIDEO: Golden Era 20.mov

REWRITTEN: 2026-05-12 15:56:06

SCRIPT 480 OF 686

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# NEW YORK HOOD JOURNALISTIC REWRITE

Yo, you wanna talk mean streets? Detroit's rep for being grimey runs mad deep, and Vincent Smothers became a straight-up textbook case of how the city's brutal environment could flip a good kid into something completely different. Coming up in a two-parent crib on Detroit's east side, Smothers had solid ground beneath him. His peoples instilled values of grinding hard and hitting them books, and Vincent even shined as an honors student. He stayed outta drama, kept his head low and only committed some small petty schemes with his crew. Nothing compared to the deep-rooted criminal activities cats were already knee-deep in, especially those embedded in Detroit's drug trade. But things flipped. Vincent's father, the foundation of the family, got diagnosed with some rare form of lymphoma, making him unable to keep that strict watch he had previously maintained. The loss of that steady guidance left a void, and his older brother Dion fell deeper into the temptation of fast paper and the street life. Dion started hustling narcotics, and that opened a new, darker lane for Vincent. With his father's health declining and his brother entrenched in the streets, Vincent began to transform. The intelligent, promising young cat found himself pulled into a world he had previously kept distance from. The system that once kept him grounded, now weakened, started to crumble, pushing Vincent further into Detroit's savage underworld. What followed was the transformation of a once gifted youth into a cold-blooded contract killer, a figure who would earn the reputation of being one of Detroit's most ruthless triggermen. It wasn't just any hitman though. Vincent was contracted to take out criminals, drug dealers, and people with deep ties to the city's most dangerous factions. Much like Dexter Morgan, he felt no guilt. Only cold, calculated precision in his work. Smothers' story is a chilling reminder of how the environment around us can shape who we become, even for someone who once had all the promise in the world. The loss of his sister Keela was a defining moment in Vincent Smothers' life. As close as they were, she wasn't just his sister. She was his best friend, his protector in a world that was slowly turning more dangerous. Every day they walked to school together, and Vincent made it a point to watch over her. He was determined to keep her safe, especially as their family began to unravel. The events leading up to Keela's tragic death were a combination of poor choices, violence, and bad luck. Deon's decision to burglarize a house put the entire family in harm's way, especially when Grady Hudson, a man with ties to the neighborhood, took things into his own hands. After a confrontation with Deon's friend, Hudson grabbed two revolvers, walked up to the Smothers house, and fired a shot into the ground. But what Hudson didn't expect was for Keela to step outside just as the shot rang out. She was hit in the stomach and died hours later, a casualty of a senseless act of violence. For Vincent, this was the moment that shattered his world. His protective instincts failed him, and the loss of his sister broke something inside of him. Keela wasn't just a family member. She was the last thread keeping Vincent tethered to the good life he had once known. After her death, Vincent spiraled into a darkness that would only get deeper. The grief and pain became too much to bear, and with it came a cold detachment from the world around him. When his father passed away just eight months later, Vincent's world crumbled entirely. His father had been his rock, the one who had kept him grounded, but now that anchor was gone. His grades dropped. He started cutting school. The young man, who had once shown promise as an honor student, now found comfort in criminal activity. Minor thefts escalated into car thefts, and soon Vincent found himself sinking further into a world of crime. The grief he carried from losing both his sister and father turned him into a shell of the person he once was, transforming him into someone capable of much darker deeds. His descent into becoming a ruthless hitman for hire was a direct result of the emotional devastation he endured during those formative years. Vincent Smothers' life took a dark turn when he met Leroy Paine, a cat who worked for Delano Thomas, a figure connected to one of Detroit's largest drug suppliers. Paine, known in the streets as a key player in the underworld, introduced Vincent to the brutal world of contract killings. It was a world far removed from the life Vincent once envisioned for himself, but it was one he would soon find himself deeply immersed in. It all started with a casual question, how much would you body someone for? To most people it would be a rhetorical or absurd question, something thrown out just for the sake of conversation. But Vincent, numbed by the grief of losing his sister and father and already lost in a downward spiral of crime, didn't take the question lightly. He casually threw out a price, not expecting it to go any further. But Leroy Paine, ever the dedicated worker in this dangerous world, agreed to the price. And just like that, Vincent was drawn deeper into the web of organized violence. The job came through a couple months later. On July 1st, 2006, Smothers was tasked with eliminating 33-year-old Willie Watson, a man who was sitting outside his home, casually smoking a cigarette on the porch. Without hesitation, Smothers walked up to Watson and shot him dead in cold blood. It was his first official hit, a moment that would define the trajectory of his life from that point on. At the time, Vincent was still holding down a day job, working in a more mundane world, but when Leroy Paine showed up to deliver the payment in a shoebox, the reality of what he had just done hit Vincent, the full amount was there, and it was far more than he had ever made in his legitimate life. It was a wake-up call for Smothers. The money, the power, and the cold efficiency of the job began to seduce him. He realized this wasn't just some quick cash, it was a lucrative, dangerous line of work. From that moment forward, Vincent Smothers took the life of a hitman seriously. What had started as a simple, almost flippant exchange about money, now became a full-blown career in the world of hired killers. The same cold detachment that had defined his grief over losing his sister and father now fueled his rise in the criminal underworld. And as he began to take on more jobs, Vincent's reputation as one of Detroit's most ruthless hitmen only grew. Vincent Smothers' decision to quit his day job marked the beginning of his full-time career as a hitman. His path deeper into the criminal world came when Leroy Payne, the intermediary for Delano Thomas, asked him to take on a more significant job. One that would establish his reputation even further. In the summer of 2006, Smothers was hired to kill a drug dealer named Adrian "A.D." Thornton, who had been feuding with Delano Thomas for years. The roots of the conflict went back to a violent altercation in 2000 when Thomas' crew allegedly stole marijuana from A.D., leading to an ambush in which A.D. and his girlfriend were shot. In retaliation A.D. and his brother killed one of Thomas' men. This set off a deadly cycle of revenge. Word on the street was that Thomas had placed a $50,000 bounty on A.D.'s head and a similar amount for his best friend Motorhead, who was always by A.D.'s side. On one fateful August day, Smothers was stationed nearby, watching as A.D. and Motorhead emerged from A.D.'s house. The two men were laughing, unaware of the looming threat. A group of kids gathered on the street heading toward the basketball hoop and among them was Smothers. A tall, light-skinned man blending in with the crowd. Motorhead, distracted by the kids, didn't notice Smothers until it was too late. As Motorhead stepped off the porch, the sound of gunfire rang out. Smothers unleashed a barrage of bullets, hitting Motorhead several times. Two bullets to his head, one to his arm and several to his stomach. But A.D. wasn't so lucky. He fell dead at the scene. Smothers got paid that same day. Leroy Payne was quick to deliver the cash, and neither man knew yet that Motorhead had somehow survived. Smothers though was shocked when he later heard that Motorhead had lived through the attack. "I saw Motorhead's brains," Smothers said when speaking to the police.