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In the late 1980s, Dallas police officer Regina Smith investigated a series of murders of s*x workers, leading to the capture of Charles Albright, the "Eyeball Killer," in 1991. Her work is documented in the Lifetime movie Searching for a Serial Killer: The Regina Smith Story, premiering on Saturday, November 9, 2024, at 8 p.m. EST.
Regina Smith is a retired police officer, who currently has a parallel career as a rap music artist. Before her retirement, she served as the Lieutenant of the Dallas Police Department. She is an avid advocate for Equal Justice and Empowering Women's Safety in today's world.
What is the story of Regina Smith?
Regina Smith joined the Dallas Police Department back in 1988 and was posted in Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas. This area was infamous for high crime rates, especially gun violence and murders. Beiing new in the police department, Regina and her co-worker John Matthews witnessed the murders of prostitutes in their patrolling region.
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It was in December 1990, when they found a 33-year-old woman Mary Pratt murdered on a South Dallas road. This murder sent chills around the region as she was a known s*x worker in the area. Upon autopsy, no strong evidence was found from the body. But what truly shocked the investigators was that both eyeballs of the woman were taken out.
A few months later, in February 1991, another body was found on the same street. The woman identified as Susan Peterson, was also a s*x worker in the region. She was shot in the head, and similar to the previous case, her eyes too were gauged out. Another woman named Shirley Williams was found shot dead, near an elementary school, with her eyeballs in a terrible condition.
Soon it was clear, that the pattern of murder indicated a serial killer roaming around the region. Regina and her partner managed to track down a woman named Veronica, who claimed to have survived the serial killer. They managed to find a witness named Brenda White who shared her experience with a creepy customer, who acted very suspiciously.
Regina Smith gathered all the pieces of evidence and collaborated with the FBI to send out profiles. They managed to decipher that the serial killer had a fondness for Caucasian s*x workers. After interviewing multiple witnesses, especially targeting the red-light region, Regina and her team managed to trace down the murderer.
A man named Charles Albright came into major suspicion. Regina went through his past criminal records and sent her findings to the homicide department. Charles was found guilty and was charged with the murder of three women. He was sent to prison with a lifetime sentence. In 2022, Charles died in prison without confessing to be guilty.
Regina Smith received national recognition after solving The Eyeball Killer case
Regina was mainly responsible for tracking down the serial killer and revealing Charles' true identity. After the serial killer was sent to prison, Regina Smith became a reputable name in the department, for showing her bravery as a single mother. Two years later, in 1993 she was promoted to the rank of Detective.
In an interview with AETV, published on October 31, 2024, Regina Smith opened up about how she identified Charles to be the serial killer. She revealed that Brenda White's testimonial acted as one of the central evidence in solving the case. Reportedly, Brenda was in a car with one of her customers, who was vigorous in his actions, and she had to force him out of the car.
Veronica, who had a neck scar, reported a similar encounter, leading Regina to investigate Charles Albright, known for violence against women. A constable provided intel from a former girlfriend of Albright’s, revealing his knife fetish. Regina, collaborating with SWAT, successfully captured Albright, a case that gained national media attention.
In 1999, Regina was promoted to Sergeant of the Crime Scene Investigative Unit. She later married Sr. Cpl. Norman Smith, who tragically passed in 2009 while on duty. Afterward, Regina pursued her passion for rap music as "Lucille Baller" and founded a music production company in her husband's memory, Big Rush.
Regina's rap music journey started facing reluctance from the Police Department
From the name Lucille Baller, she started producing and posting her songs on the website. By the time her second career. Started to garner attention, the Dallas Police Department showed disapproval as her lyrics involved verses concentrating on gun violence.
As per a NBCDFW article, published on March 4, 2013, Regina was put on administrative leave in November 2012. The five-day suspension was issued by Assistant Police Chief Cynthia Villarreal. As per police officials, Regina Smith appeared in her music video in her police uniform. In the video, she displays her service revolver and uses lyrics that include gun violence.
Her music production team "Big Rush In" was assigned for investigation to the property crimes division. In the interview with AETV, Reginal Hall said that after she retired she tried reaching out to Charles Albright. She wanted to return their victim families and the remains of their departed ones.
Back during the investigation, the police couldn't find anything in Charles' house, except for some creepy jars filled with lizards, frogs, and snakes. Charles was in the hospital ward of the prison at that time. Regina recalls that he jumped upon meeting him, he jumped out of her clutches and gave her the cruellest look. Charles Albright died without ever giving information about the gauged eyeballs.
Regina Smith currently is a retired Lieutenant of the Dallas Police Department, with more than 26 years of service. She is currently an avid spokesperson, for empowering and uplifting women, as a single mother.
Serial Killer: The Regina Smith Story is available for streaming on Lifetime.
