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Man Sentenced to Death for Killing Northridge 8-Year-Old

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From a Times Staff Writer

Gregory Scott Smith was sentenced to die in the gas chamber for killing an 8-year-old Northridge boy near Simi Valley two years ago.

Smith, 23, sat unmoved when Ventura County Superior Court Judge Steven Z. Perren sentenced him to death for the abduction, rape and murder of Paul Bailly.

The youngster disappeared after his mother dropped him off at the day-care program at Darby Avenue Elementary School in Northridge, where Smith had worked before he was fired for treating Paul and other children roughly.

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Later that day, motorists found Paul’s handcuffed, burned body at the center of a brush fire in the remote Santa Susanna Knolls area of Simi Valley.

“I’m so deeply sorry for what’s happened to Paul Bailly,” Smith sobbed shortly before sentencing.

He blamed “the mean, wicked Greg Smith” for the boy’s murder.

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