Hempfield woman fatally shot by boyfriend at their home, police say

Renee Esken was pleasantly surprised to get a Christmas gift from her friend Frances Smith.

“We've known each other for years, and I never expected anything,” Esken said. “It was very heartwarming.”

Esken and other patrons at the Midway-St. Clair VFD Club were shocked to learn that Smith, 61, of Hempfield Township, was fatally shot Sunday night, allegedly by her live-in boyfriend, Allen Eugene Trent, 53. The couple frequented the club and were there earlier Sunday, state police said.

“Every Friday, I would see both of them,” said Esken, a bartender.

Trent was arraigned Monday by District Judge Mark Mansour on a single homicide count and was jailed without bond. He didn't respond to reporters' questions as troopers escorted him from the court office.

Police said Trent called troopers to the couple's secluded Waycross Road home in Hempfield, just outside South Greensburg, at 8:42 p.m. Sunday for a reported suicide.

“Trent appeared to have visible scratches on his chest and arms, along with blood smears and stains on his shorts and slippers,” Trooper Joseph Lauricia wrote in a criminal complaint.

Investigators found Smith lying in bed, dead from a gunshot wound to the head. A weapon lay near her lower legs and a second gun was sticking out from a night stand, police said.

Trent initially told troopers Smith had shot herself while he was in the kitchen drinking homemade wine.

But investigators found physical evidence that “just absolutely did not add up to what would be consistent with somebody that had shot themselves,” Trooper Steve Limani said.

“In the case where it's one person's word against a person that's no longer with us, the physical evidence is really going to tell the story,” he said.

Trent told police that the pair, who had been in a relationship for 12 years, went to the South Greensburg Hunt Club about 2:30 p.m. Sunday and drank for a few hours, then moved on to the Midway-St. Clair club. They returned home at 7:30 or 8 p.m.

Smith was eating a fish sandwich when she “poked and scratched” Trent's chest and torso, Lauricia wrote in an affidavit.

During a police interview, Trent later changed his story and said when Smith went to sleep he got a revolver from the living room and took it into the bedroom.

Smith told him to “put that thing away” and grabbed his arm, Trent told police.

“The gun went off. It happened so fast,” Trent told police, according to the affidavit.

As Mansour read the affidavit aloud in court, Trent shook his head.

Limani said Smith's family is “devastated.”

“It's something that didn't have to happen,” he said.

Smith is the youngest of 11 children, according to her sister, Helen Taylor. She said their large family is “deeply shocked.”

“Known for her quick sense of humor, she was outgoing and lived life to the fullest,” Taylor said in a written statement. “She will be sadly missed by her family and friends.”

Smith and Trent were living in a home that Smith's late boyfriend, Edward A. Vincent, built after purchasing about an acre in 1985, according Westmoreland County property records and neighbors. Vincent died in 2002 at 50, according to an obituary. In the years since, neighbors often saw Smith mowing the lawn and riding a golf cart on the long driveway to pick up mail.

Patrons at the Midway-St. Clair club said they never noticed problems between Smith and Trent.

“She was very sweet,” Esken said. “Both of them were very nice people.”

Trent was released from a probationary program in September 2015 in connection with a 2009 charge of driving under the influence. His preliminary hearing in the homicide case is set for Feb. 24.

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-837-5374 or rsignorini@tribweb.com.