Michigan Dad Confesses to Planning to Murder Kids Right After Telling Them “Good Morning”

Authorities have shared that a Michigan father admitted on May 26 that he planned to kill three of his children before taking his own life on the same morning he was due in court for sentencing in an indecent exposure case.

Jeffrey Smerer, 45, pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges tied to the September 2025 shooting inside the family’s Port Huron home. During the incident, his 17-year-old son, Kayleb Smerer, was killed. Two younger children, 13-year-old Bentley Smerer and 12-year-old Kinzley Smerer, survived after suffering critical injuries.

Smerer entered the plea without a deal from prosecutors. During the hearing, he admitted that the shootings were planned.

“Was it your intention or your plan to shoot the children in the home?” senior assistant public defence attorney David Kelley asked in court.

To this, Smerer replied, “Yes.”

“Was it also your intention to shoot yourself?” “Yes,” Smerer said again while crying.

Investigators said Smerer had spent about a week planning the attack. Court records show he told police he was under stress over a sentencing hearing connected to a 2020 indecent exposure charge. He was frightened that he “might be going to jail,” according to testimony.

Police said the shootings took place shortly after 6 a.m. as the children were waking up for school. A detective testified during a preliminary hearing that Smerer retrieved a .380 handgun from a safe under his bed before walking into the bedroom shared by Bentley and Kinzley.

“He indicated that he woke up around 6 a.m. to his alarm, retrieved his .380 from the gun safe, which he keeps underneath his bed, and then proceeded into the bedroom of Kinzley and Bentley,” the detective testified.

Authorities said Smerer greeted the children with “good morning” before stepping into a nearby bathroom. There, investigators said, he looked in the mirror and questioned whether he should proceed with his plan.

Moments later, police said, he returned to the bedroom and opened fire.

Bentley was lying under a blanket and looking at his cellphone when he was shot. “He was aiming towards the glow,” the detective testified.

Police said Kinzley had begun getting out of bed when Smerer aimed at her throat and fired.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the kids who were injured. The pictures on the account show the severe conditions of the injured children.

According to authorities, Kayleb was later shot while in another part of the home. Smerer told investigators he planned to kill Kayleb, Bentley, and Kinzley before turning the gun on himself.

Before the shootings, Smerer cut his wrist and took multiple medications he had hidden in the master bedroom, according to court testimony.

When he tried to shoot himself, Smerer told police the handgun jammed. Investigators said his wife and 19-year-old son were home at the time and managed to disarm him.

“He woke up, woke the kids up to go to school and ya know, it was a regular day and something just happened,” Smerer’s sister, Victoria Frazer, told WXYZ after the shooting.

Smerer pleaded guilty to one count of open murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder, two counts of first-degree child abuse, and five felony firearm charges. He is now facing multiple life sentences and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29.