Jurors acquitted a man charged with a 2021 Topeka homicide of one criminal count Monday.

A mistrial was declared on two other charges he faced, as jurors remained deadlocked on those.

Clint William Eugene Smith Jr., 24, was found not guilty of intentional and premeditated first-degree murder linked to the fatal April 2021 shooting near S.E. 6th and Chandler of Emmanuel "Manny" Torres, 16.

A mistrial was declared Monday because jurors remained deadlocked on the two other charges Smith faced, of first-degree murder in the commission of a felony and the criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle.

Smith's trial began last Monday and went to the jury early Friday afternoon.

After learning about 5:30 p.m. Friday that jurors were divided, 7-5 — with some jurors on both sides appearing adamant that they wouldn't change their mind — Shawnee County District Court Judge Brett Watson had ordered jurors to return to court Monday and keep trying to reach verdicts.

The one "not guilty" verdict was rendered and the mistrial announced on the other two counts early Monday afternoon.

DA: Homicide resulted from drug transaction

Torres died as the result of a drug transaction, Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay said in 2021.

He was fatally shot in retaliation while riding in a vehicle that was leaving the area where a robbery had just been committed, court records said.

Those records said the gun used to kill Torres was found to belong to Smith, who pawned it "numerous times" shortly before and after the homicide occurred.

Smith gave that gun to his then-attorney, Joe Huerter, who turned it over to police in order to comply with Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct, which ban lawyers from unlawfully obstructing someone else's access to evidence, court records said.

Smith, a 2017 graduate of Topeka West High School, insisted that he wasn't at the homicide scene, his mother, Carrie Smith, told The Capital-Journal on Monday.

Kagay’s office has the option of refiling the two charges that resulted in the mistrial, and a criminal assignment docket hearing in the case was scheduled for March 23.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at tim.hrenchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934,

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Jury acquits Topeka murder case defendant on 1 count, is hung on 2 others